12 Feb 2013 5 Comments
in Food, Observations Tags: American Beauty, food, Manchego cheese, shishito peppers, Van Morrison
It’s one of my favorite quotes from one of my favorite scenes from one of my favorite movies. The kid in “American Beauty” is video-taping a plastic grocery store bag, floating gracefully on a breeze:
“Sometimes there’s so much beauty in the world, I feel like I can’t take it, and my heart is just going to cave in.”
It’s one of my favorite scenes and quotes because I often have moments like that, and always have. I like to call them “God moments.” More
08 Feb 2013 18 Comments
in Food, Pork, Recipes, Video Tags: Austria, Austrian cooking, Café Pruckel, Danube, Mozart, spaetzle, Vienna, Wien, Wienerschnitzel
I spent a long, cold portion of a winter in Vienna once.
What I was doing there is a long story all it’s own, but like many such stories, it had to do with a girl. That didn’t work out as planned, and I spent much of my time there on my own, exploring the city — stumbling on former residences of Beethoven around every corner, searching out the Grove of the Immortals — Brahams, Schubert, Strauss, Beethoven — in the Central Cemetery, visiting the homes of Mozart and Dr. Freud, staring at the sparkling canvases of Klimt at the Kunsthistorisches Museum, taking in Richard Strauss’ “Rosenkavalier” at the famed State Opera House and a performance of the Vienna Boys Choir at the Imperial Chapel. More
05 Feb 2013 19 Comments
in American Series, Food, Humor Tags: Champagne, Grand Central Station, Mark Helprin, oyster bar, oysters, Peter Lake, Walrus & Carpenter, Winter's Tale
“He was a bold man that first eat an oyster.” —Jonathan Swift
* * *
I found an article online, “The 10 Best Classic American Dishes and Where to Find Them.” Number 3 was New England clam chowder, and the place to get it was the Oyster Bar at Grand Central Station in New York. Which got me thinking about oyster bars.
The Walrus & the Carpenter
If I had unlimited disposable income and could eat anywhere I wanted, at least one night a week would be spent at an oyster bar. More
01 Feb 2013 3 Comments
in Beverages, Food, Humor, Observations Tags: Barley Forge, beer, Green Jug, IPA, Pliny the Elder, Russian River Brewing Company, Sierra Nevada, The Delicious
After my woeful post about my growing preoccupation with Pliny the Elder beer and my utter inability to get ahold of any, I was overwhelmed by an outpouring of support and allegiance from family, friends and assorted wellwishers.
“Sometimes Haven has Pliny on tap,” commented friend Joe.
“Have you checked the Green Jug?” friend Tina emailed. “I called and they said they get it usually once a week. But it goes fast.”
“I’m on a mission to find some Pliny for you,” emailed another friend, Nadine, who is president of a company and likes to make things happen.
My mom, in characteristic told-you-so fashion, offered up these words of encouragement:
“I found 3 on the door of the fridge when I was on a cleaning binge today. I would have happily sent you off with a couple of them but you still seem to be in a rebellious stage where you think you know more than I do. Nobody made a fuss when I insisted you try it here. We have had people in N. Carolina beg us to send them some but I got the ‘sure, sure’ look from you when I tried to make a case for it.” More
27 Jan 2013 6 Comments
in Cooking Tips Tags: apples, bisque, brine, coffee, cooking tips, food, lobster, Mexico, spring rolls, Vietnamese cooking
It was so good, so helpful, I just had to do a follow up.
Actually, I mostly did a “part II” because of a fun video I wanted you all to see. And also because of a little trick I learned from our Mexican cook, Marilu, on our recent vacation south of Puerto Vallarta.
Enjoy!
Vietnamese spring rolls with lime peanut sauce
Lime Juice on Apple Slices
This one I learned on our recent vacation to Mexico. Each morning, a platter of fruit would emerge from the kitchen. Of course, the tropical fruits — mango, pineapple and papaya — were perfectly ripe and wonderful. But the best thing of all was the apple slices. It took us some time to figure out that the reason they were so good was that Marilu, our resident chef, had squeezed lime juice over them. And, as a bonus for you folks with kids, the lime juice keeps the apples from oxidizing in school lunch boxes! More
skinny girls & mayonnaise 