November 2009
11 posts
2 tags
Happy Thanksgiving!
Stick a fork in me… Thanksgiving is done, and not a dish too soon! I got assigned turkey this year. Whole Foods was kind enough to brine it for me, and Alton Brown gave me some direction in cooking, and it went off without a hitch.
Four courses, nine dishes, two pies, two cakes and one video chat later, I hope you had as delightful a meal as I did. Happy Thanksgiving, everyone!
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Cranberry mini cheesecakes
In my world, cranberry sauce is the oft-forgotten side, required by tradition, missed by few if forgotten. So why not give cranberries a seat at the table with all their other fruit brethren, at dessert?
First, I made the cheesecakes in a muffin tin. To avoid the cheesecakes forming little wells, like my first batch, make sure you either use muffin cup liners, or grease the sides of the...
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Antoine Amrani Chocolates
Welcome back, Jenn! In preparation for my trip, Jenn will be guest blogging regularly for the next few weeks. If you guys are nice to her, maybe she’ll make it a regular gig!
Recently, Helen sent me an article about a chocolate factory store in East Norriton, which is my neck of the suburbs. It wasn’t just any old chocolate store, however, but one started by an executive pastry...
3 tags
Dock Street Brewing Company
Ah, Dock Street! You were one of the first “real” restaurants I visited in my college days, so how fitting that you have now moved out to West Philly. After your many ups and downs, my favorite parts of the menu of my youth have been restored.
I ordered the sampler, so I can tell it to you straight… their beers just don’t do it for me. On tap that evening was their...
5 tags
Stocking up: meatballs
Winter is here, and I’ve been laying in provisions almost instinctually. (bda has accused me of stocking the freezer so I know he will eat while I am traveling, but that’s not true. I know he’ll just order Domino’s.) I’ve made chili, I’ve made curry, and now it is time to tackle the mountain of meatballs.
When I was a kid, I thought meatballs were gross. ...
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Around the world in 19 days
I’m getting ready for my bi-annual mega-trip. In December, I’ll be returning to my all-time favorite city, Sydney, plus hitting up LA, Tokyo, Auckland and the north island of New Zealand. I want your advice — for food, restaurants or can’t-miss activities.
When I was last in New Zealand, I completely missed out on the lamington, a national specialty. So, clearly, I...
4 tags
Fried plantains
Thank goodness for restaurants! Usually, when I eat something really tasty, and I look up how to make it, I come away thankful that there are so many people in this world who exchange their cooking expertise for money. (See: soup dumplings)
Sometimes, though, you catch a break, and your tasty dream dish can be made at home with virtually no effort.
I will order a dish based on it having a...
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Break free from traditional cooking tools
One of the most depressing things about learning to cook is that moment when you want to cook something, you have all the ingredients, but you don’t have a tool you need. (Anne taunted me this very week with “the most delicious cake recipe!” that requires a stand mixer. Thanks, Annie.)
Or, you can get creative.
I needed some bread crumbs to make some meatballs. I had some...
3 tags
Week 25: What is a CSA, anyway??
The 2009 Greensgrow CSA wraps up this week. After my encounter with a reader, though, I realized I have never really explained what a CSA is!
CSA stands for Community Supported Agriculture. They’re sometimes also referred to as a farmshare. In a traditional CSA, a farm sells “shares” of their crops at the beginning of the season, which CSA members then receive as they are...
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First Person Arts/Foobooz Burger Cruise
Tuesday was the first night of the 2009 First Person Arts Festival, and they kicked things off with a bang (and a traffic-stoppingly large crowd wandering across Broad Street.) Art Etchells, editor of Foobooz, organized a Center City burger tour, hitting the old, new, celebrated and unusual burgers on offer these days.
First stop was Good Dog, which did a slider version of their famous...
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Gateau breton is not heaven on earth.
You know when you go to the shore, and you keep walking by the fudge store, and that sample man is just calling to you? And even though you walked by not 10 minutes before, you can’t help yourself from going back and getting another sample?
Several years ago, my family went to Brittany, otherwise known as the butter capital of France. They had a cake there, a butter cake, and we would...