A Fete for Food

A Few of My Favorite Things, Winter Edition

2012-01-23T07:30:00.000-05:00

1. Mason Jars - Apparently I have been come to be known as the girl who has an affinity to mason jars. I store food in them, use them as vases and even use them as drinking glasses when the rest are in the dishwasher. My mother thinks I'm crazy. I argue that they are quite the versatile item and better for food storage than plastic (no leakage of food or dirty chemicals.) And then I discovered Corner Grille in Worcester, where they sell their homemade lemonade and iced tea in mason jars. A match made in heaven.

2. Homemade wool mittens - It's amazing how warm these mittens are. I bought them this fall at the Red Apple Farm's winter festival. I haven't taken them off since.

3. Best Food Writing of 2011 - I'm enjoying reading (and in some cases, rereading) the most poignant stories of 2011, edited by Holly Hughes.

4. Rupert the Elephant Planter - Yes, I have named him.

5. Green smoothies - I know the green smoothie has become a cliche in the food blog world, but there's not reason to knock it. I put baby spinach, frozen cubes of peach puree, milk, peanut butter, and sometimes a little orange juice in mine (blueberries, yogurt, soymilk are occasionally added). It's full of nutrients and is quite filling. Don't knock it 'til you try it.

6. Microfiber hair towels and wide-toothed combs - This may be a strange one, but I've turned a corner in embracing my curly hair. Did you know there's a whole world out there for girls with curly hair? There are special curly hair cuts that you can get, special chemical-free products that enhance the curl, and specific ways to treat your curls so they look your best. The two ways I've recently ascribed to are 1) drying your hair with a microfiber towel. Apparently it helps to reduce frizz and dryness. It seems to be working. 2) Combing wet hair with a wide-toothed comb. It allows the curls to curl up in their own way. Brushes discourage the curls from bunching in their natural form. It appears my curls have taken on a life of their own.

Question of the Day: What are you favorite things as of late?

Texas n' Tacos

2012-01-21T12:03:00.001-05:00

A couple weeks ago, I boarded a plane to Texas to visit Elizabeth. It was my first time to the Lone Star state (besides the occasional trip through Dallas to switch planes.)

Getaways always revolve around food. Though who am I kidding? I breathe, sleep and work food 24/7, so a vacation to a new state with new food culture meant some serious exploring and eating.

Elizabeth currently lives in Houston, and we certainly did our share of exploring the food scene for the less than 24 hours we spent in this city. When I arrived, she took me straight to Monica Pope's t'afia. I was impressed with their commitment to "eat where your food lives." I was shocked that when we arrived at 6 pm the place was quiet and we sat right down. Their drink menu offered quite a few unique combinations of flavors including their signature ratafia, a fortified wine infused with seasonal produce. My only criticism is that I would have liked to have seen more featured fresh vegetarian and veggie-filled menu items and limiting the focus on the meats.

The next morning Elizabeth and I headed to the Houston Farmers Market. After a 4 mile jog, fresh citrus, homemade breakfast of eggs, greens and grits and the biggest cinnamon roll from Sinfull Bakery was just what I had in mind.

We then trekked off to Austin, mecca of the food truck movement. When we arrived, our first priority was to get a taco from Torchy's Tacos.

Famed for their unique and delicious tacos, they certainly lived up to their name. After much deliberation, I went with the brush fire taco, a combination of jerk chicken, grilled jalapenos, mango, sour cream, cilantro and... diablo sauce. The sauce lived up to its flaming name, for sure. I made frequent trips to the water cooler during the eating of this taco.

The food truck scene here is amazing. From tacos to cupcakes, Thai to BBQ, this city of cobbled-together mobile food purveyors had it all. Next to many of the "food courts" (i.e. a parking lot in which they all congregate) were art and craft courts too. We found these especially unique items at one from the Plaid Pigeon.

This was the little guy I packed in my carry-on and kidnapped from his balmy habitat to the Northeast (he's not loving the snow...).

We also enjoyed brunch before heading back to Houston at the Bouldin Creek Coffeehouse, the local caffeine dealer. The caffeinated beverages and brunch were delicious.

Other Austin fun:

Moonshine Lemonade at Lustre Pearl

Local graffiti

Austin transportation

Last night I was reminiscing about that delicious Torchy's Taco. So, with what I had in the refrigerator, I tried to recreate the best I could.

Here's what each taco consisted of:

1 corn tortilla, sprayed with cooking spray an toasted for 5 minutes, until bubbly
1/3 cup leftover BBQ chicken
2 Tbsp mashed avocado with a squirt of lemon juice
1 Tbsp plain yogurt
A liberal dose of sriracha sauce

It was the perfect dose of Texas.

Question of the Day: Have you been to Texas?

Ringing in 2012

2012-01-02T16:25:00.000-05:00

Happy New Year! I hope your celebration of the new year enthralled you as much as it did I.

I started 2012 off with a bang; Tim and I celebrated our engagement with a brunch celebration. The permeating theme was "enjoying the local flavors." Thus, we celebrated with local wines, sparkling ciders and a beautiful array of foods grown, processed and prepared locally. We got a helping hand from Haute Cuisine Couture who assembled, cooked and served the food.

Since this was a brunch following the morning after the biggest party night of the year, we knew we had to have some strong, delicious coffee. Our guests started off with a steaming cup of Dean's Beans Moka Java.

There were also libations including Still River Winery's Apple Ice Wine and mimosas. For those not imbibing, Carlson Orchards McIntosh Sparkling Cider was the refreshing option.

And then came the food.

Old Mill pecan rolls.

Platters of fresh fruits, cheeses and meats.

Entree items included freshly made turkey meatballs in marinara from Bob's Turkey Farm and apple butternut squash soup shooters.

Breakfast casserole made with Country Hen eggs and Maple Heights Farm breakfast sausage.

But the piece de resistance was really the cheeseboard. This feature had been weeks in the making. I first went out to find a piece of slate large enough to hold all of the cheese. For less than $10, I bought a piece of square slate, cleaned, painted, sealed, and put non-slip holders on it for a perfect holder for these local cheeses.

We ate some of my favorites:

Smith's Country Cheese smoked gouda
Smith's Country Cheese sharp cheddar
Robinson Farm "Barndance"
Westfield Farm chocolate capri (the clear favorite of all)
Westfield Farm farmers' cheese
Westfield Farm herb and garlic
Westfield Farm blue
Westfield Farm cranberry orange

And for dessert, mini cupcakes from Honey Bee Baking Company in Princeton.

But the best part was the company.

As guests headed home to enjoy their New Years Day, they took home party favors: half-pound bags of freshly-ground Dean's Beans coffee, stamped with our initials and the date.

Happy New Year!

(courtesy of Mark Girouard)

I'd like to thank Heidi of Haute Cuisine Couture for an excellent orchestration of food. Mark Girouard, a local photographer, also attended the party. If you're local and looking for a personal chef or a photographer with a collection of beautiful photos, I suggest Heidi and Mark! Feel free to contact me for more information.

Question of the Day: What do you see for yourself in 2012?

Disclaimer: I was not paid to promote Haute Cuisine Couture or Mark Girouard.

Back for Lunch & Cat Humor

2011-12-22T14:42:00.001-05:00

I'm back, two days in a row, for lunch! This is a miracle of sorts. Actually, my winter holiday starts today, and so I have the rest of the year off.

That joke never gets old.

This isn't a promise to share what I eat every day for lunch; so let's just take it slow here.

I'm impressed with those food bloggers who can post their meals and some humorous and enjoyable commentary alongside on a daily basis. Even more props to those who post three times each day. I can barely remember to shower every day (that one's for you Tim), never mind take photos of my food and write something witty.

But back to today. This morning ended up being glorious. I walked to the post office first (I have an addiction to checking my PO Box. Too bad that addiction didn't also translate into blog posting... or showering. There you are again, Tim) to get some business done, and then headed out for a jog.

I think I've reached a new level of boring in my life. Not the post office, or the jog (although those could both qualify) but as I was jogging, I passed all of these well-decorated houses with the most beautiful doors. Festive red doors with huge fresh green wreathes. Old doors on houses from the 1850s decorated with red winter berry wreathes. Doors upon doors. I pondered doing a photo montage of "Doors of Westminster" and then realized that I have plummeted to a new level of mind numb.

Sorry to bore you with the doors.

After this stimulating run, I came home to this delicious lunch. Talk about excitement.

FSTG corn chips, homemade fish chowder and a satsuma orange

The fish chowder materialized after my deep guilt for my hoarder's freezer. Scary. Don't judge. It was time to purge the frost-bitten packages wedged behind the ice trays.

Most of it is packed with peaches and homemade chicken stock, but I was lucky enough to find some frozen cod and corn, and from that came this delicious fish chowder. It started out being this Eating Well recipe for creamy fish chowder and ended up something else. I didn't add bacon but used some butter and olive oil to cook the onions and garlic. I had no clam juice: substituted vegetable broth instead. I added a ton of frozen corn. The result was a thin-brothed soup. I'm not sure everyone enjoys this type of chowder, but I know I do. The gummy consistency of many clam chowders don't appeal to me.

So if you are sleeping at this point because this post was so boring (in which case you wouldn't be reading this) or if you, in some tangled and distorted way do not believe I embody the likes of a bore, please watch this video. Then you'll agree. Yes, I take iPhone videos of my cat trying to get a Christmas bow off his head.

Any Given Day

2011-12-21T21:18:00.000-05:00

If I'm home working during the noon hour, lunch is usually a tuna sandwich, peanut "noodles" or some combination of refrigerator ingredients strung together for a balanced plate.

Today was no different. But today featured an old friend. Tempeh.

If you haven't quite made it to the tofu stage, tempeh might be a good first step. It's a bit more texturized than tofu and soaks up the flavor of whatever it is sauteed in (Trader Joe's island soyaki sauce). I learned that in order for it to taste best, you must steam it for a few minutes before sauteing. This removes any bitter taste.

Paired with a slice of The Black Sheep deli whole wheat bread and kale and it's time for lunch!

Question of the Day: Have you ever tried tempeh?

Spaghetti Squash Peanut "Noodles"

2011-12-17T08:08:00.003-05:00

Bear with me. This is one of my more peculiar combinations, but I swear this adulterated version of pad thai works.

That is, as I sit here sipping on a green smoothie packed with spinach that tastes a bit more like salad in a cup than the soymilk or peaches accompanying it.

This dish manifested from a post-workout, late evening hunger surge that a bowl of cereal usually squelches. But my latest efforts to purge cabinets of random jars, boxes, and packages of half-eaten content left me with no cereal; instead, the fridge contained some sour buttermilk (I tossed that immediately!) a bowl full of cooked spaghetti squash in all its stringy glory, one scoop of peanut butter left in the jar, half a lime, and some beans.

This dish requires a bit more imagination but you'll like it. The buttermilk has no role, except that it functioned as one of the extraneous ingredients I still hand hanging around in the refrigerator, and like I said, was deposited in the trash.

Let's talk spaghetti squash for a moment. My first experience with it surprised me. I cut the giant lemonade-colored orb in half, expecting a texture of uncooked spaghetti, but found the texture of butternut squash. It amazed me that when cooked properly, the flesh breaks up into a texture quite similar to spaghetti. I know, it's the little things.

Spaghetti Squash Peanut Noodles
(for one)

1 cup cooked spaghetti squash, broken up with a fork
1 cup kale, ribbon cut
1/4 cup peanuts
2 heaping Tbsp peanut butter
1 tsp sesame oil
juice of 1/2 lime
1/2 cup cranberry beans, cooked

Combine squash, kale and beans and mix together. In a small bowl, whisk together peanut butter, lime juice and oil and drizzle over squash mixture. In this case, squash, kale and beans were leftovers, so I reheated in the microwave for 1 minute. In a small saute pan, roast peanuts for 5 minutes, or until browning and fragrant. Sprinkle peanuts on top of dish.

Question of the Day: Any weird combinations of food that are working for you lately?

A Yeast Feast

2011-12-04T14:17:00.001-05:00

I've been tinkering with my bread machine and a variety of bread recipes lately. When I came across this whole-wheat pizza dough in the September/October issue of Eating Well, I knew I had to try it. The outcome? A hearty (but not dense) crust that was one of the better recipes I've tried for pizza dough.

In our house, we institute a make-your-own rule when it comes to pizza toppings. I typically roll out 4 individual small round crusts, two for us to eat then and two for lunch the following day. Whatever leftover vegetables lurking in the refrigerator get chopped and the pizzas get topped.

Our pizzas held a combination of cheeses (mozzarella, cheddar and/or feta), quick homemade pizza sauce (tomato paste, crushed tomatoes, herbs, garlic), beets, spinach, onions, olives, and peppers.

Beyond pizza crusts, there have also been butter rolls made for Thanksgiving, a few hearty loaves of whole wheat sandwich bread, and homemade pretzels.

The homemade pretzels materialized from a bread machine loaf of dough. These were delicious with some honey mustard, eaten during a Pats game.

Patriots Pretzels
makes 8 large pretzels
(adapted from Kitchenmaker Pro Breadmaker Cookbook)

14 oz warm water
1/2 tsp salt
1 Tbsp ground flaxseed
2 cups bread flour
2 cups white whole wheat flour
1 tsp sugar
1 Tbsp yeast
1 egg, beaten (optional)
1 Tbsp coarse salt (optional)

Mix all ingredients in a bread machine and set to "dough" setting. When dough cycle is complete, preheat oven to 450 degrees. Remove dough and place on floured surface. Cut dough into 8 pieces. Roll into 12 inch rope, and shape into a pretzel. Place on a greased cookie sheet, and brush the tops with the beaten egg. Sprinkle with coarse salt. Bake for 12-15 minutes.

I'm revisiting Zoe Francois's cookbook Healthy Bread in 5 Minutes a Day. As we speak, I have a rustic whole wheat loaf rising and ready to be baked off momentarily for egg sandwiches and toast this week.

A rising loaf of bread. A pot of simmering beans. The noises of football and Christmas music in the background. The smell of wood stove smoke from a neighbor's. A thick wool blanket. A snoring cat. The soft living room light. This basically sums up what makes me happy on a Sunday evening.

Question of the Day: What have you been baking lately?

Eating like the Suidae Family

2011-11-25T10:46:00.001-05:00

Hopefully you didn't eat like the Suidae family yesterday. In case you were wondering who they are, they're really swine. And I mean that in the nicest way. Pigs are from the genus Sus, within the Suidae family.

What I'm trying to say is that I'm hoping you didn't eat like a pig.

But even if you overindulged on the treats of Thanksgiving, today is a new day!

And we all know that leftovers are in abundance on the day after Thanksgiving, so make yourself a turkey wrap with all of that food hanging out in the fridge.

Spread about 1/2 cup of leftover squash and cranberry sauce mix over a round whole wheat tortilla. Sprinkle some golden raisins and shredded lettuce. Lastly, pile the tortilla with shredded turkey, roll it up and cut in half.

Just please don't eat it like a pig.

Kale Convert

2011-11-21T17:51:00.001-05:00

If you'll recall, I proclaimed my love for tofu about a month ago. Tofu and kale seem to go hand in hand: in the "for hippies and health nuts only" category, unfortunately.

I think kale just needs a makeover. Kind of like pistachios (get crackin' like a honey badger!) Or carrots. These good Vermonters have started it already... Eat More Kale!

So perhaps a movement is already underway. You should take The Kale Pledge anyway. Pledge to make kale cool. I'd like to see kale become the everyman's green.

While I work on my kale-loving campaign, here's a quick crash course in kale; after all, there's not just one kind. For starters, you've got curly, lacinato, and red Russian. Sarah Jane from I Love Kale does a great job explaining the subtle differences.

I had some of this delicious Brassica in my refrigerator (each variety, as a matter of fact) and decided that a side dish full of simple but bright flavors would do just fine aside a bowl of beans.

I started with a few long leaves of lacinato kale. I sliced them in half the long way, and then chopped into ribboned, bite-sized pieces. Into a saute pan it went to cook down a bit. Raw kale is a dull, deep dark green, but when a bit of heat is applied, it turns a bright, almost fluorescent green. That's when you know it's done (about 5-7 minutes). At this point I added 1/8 cup chopped walnuts, a squeeze of lemon, a drizzle of macadamia nut oil, and a pinch of salt and pepper. Tossed together, this side dish adds a beautiful splash of color and a couple servings of your nutritious dark leafy greens!

For those skeptics, sauteed kale is mild; with a bit of acid from the lemon and crunch contributed by the walnuts, this side dish is flavorful without the bitterness associated with some dark leafy greens. If you're hesitant to try this recipe, start with kale chips.

Question of the Day: Will you take the pledge? Are you a kale convert?

Whole Wheat Pumpkin Ginger Muffins with Streusel Topping

2011-11-19T13:42:00.001-05:00

Thank you for all of your kind words on our recent engagement! Each and every one made me smile.

This whole week I've been living in the clouds, soaking in all of the sweet responses of friends and family, beginning the wedding planning process and every once and a while, gazing at my ring and getting used to its new home on my left hand.

This morning I was in the mood for something pumpkin-y. A muffin with a hot cup of coffee seemed just the thing. Mini bundt pear spice cakes with walnut praline topping or homemade cinnamon buns also would have done the trick, but I settled on pumpkin muffins instead.

Unfortunately I didn't have a can of pureed pumpkin, so had to make my own. I had some sugar pumpkins bought from the farmers market two week ago, so I cleaned, peeled, cut into chunks and microwaved for 8 minutes. After a quick turn in the food processor, I had 3 cups of pureed pumpkin for less than it would have cost me to buy a can.

Whole Wheat Pumpkin Ginger Muffins with Streusel Topping
makes 2 dozen muffins
(adapted from Sweet Potato Muffins with Candied Ginger in Madison's Vegetarian Cooking for Everyone)

1/2 cup oil
1/3 cup molasses
1/3 cup honey
1 cup brown sugar
2 cups pureed pumpkin
4 eggs
1 cup buttermilk
1 3/4 cup whole wheat flour
1 3/4 cup white whole wheat flour
2 tsp baking powder
2 tsp baking soda
1 tsp salt
2 tsp ground cinnamon
1/3 cup chopped candied ginger
1/2 cup toasted chopped walnuts
cooking spray

Streusel topping:
1/3 cup brown sugar
1/4 cup rolled oats
1/4 cup whole wheat flour
1/4 tsp nutmeg
2 Tbsp cold butter

Preheat oven to 375 degrees. Spray muffin tins. Mix wet ingredients in first bowl. Mix dry ingredients and ginger and nuts in a second bowl. Combine two until well mixed. Spoon into muffin tins. For streusel topping, mix ingredients, cutting in butter with fingers. Sprinkle streusel on top of muffin batter. Bake for 20 minutes.

These would make a perfect Thanksgiving morning treat. Served best with cinnamon or pumpkin spice coffee!

Question of the Day: How are you celebrating Thanksgiving this year?

No Engagement Chicken Necessary

2011-11-14T07:13:00.001-05:00

So there is this old wives' tale that if you make this particular chicken recipe called Engagement Chicken, it will woo your suitor into proposing to you. Cute... but that's certainly not our story.

Let me say this: Tim and I got engaged last weekend.

And despite hearing the response "finally!" from some (like our parents), the last seven years together definitely flew by.

This was the first long, work-free weekend in a while, so I had packed the agenda full, never realizing a proposal would be the finale of it all.

On Friday morning, Tim and I headed out to Cornerstone Ranch in Princeton where we cashed in a horseback riding groupon. I had never been before; my excitement and anxiety subsided when the guide gave me the horse her 7-year old was training on saying, "it will be perfect for you." The trail ride was relaxing and scenic, yet muddy and windy. But I didn't get bucked off or stuck in a tree. A success, the way I see it.

On Saturday morning, we headed to Westport Rivers Winery. Our friends had arranged a winery tour and tasting; who am I to turn an offer like that down? As we arrived, the entrance was blocked. An old pickup truck had stopped short in the driveway and a subsequent deluge of pumpkins tumbled off the back truck bed. Pumpkin guts littered the front entrance of the pristine vineyard grounds, so instead of waiting in our car and watching the poor farmers pick up the hundred or so smashed gourds, we offered a hand. In exchange, we were graciously given a pumpkin. As the winery tour started, we realized the guy who dumped the pumpkins was our tour guide. We were glad we didn't just sit in our warm car watching him hopelessly scrape together his squashed pumpkin crop!

The tour guide oriented us to the fields of vines, identifying the names of the grapes they grew that would eventually be crushed to create their signature sparkling wines. We toured the processing facility and viewed the honeycombs of fermenting Brut and Blanc de Blanc. The tour circled back to the tasting room, where we swirled and sipped all sorts of sparkling wines, whites, and even a Pinot Noir made from grapes that enjoyed an unusually long growing season in 2010.

After the tour, we lunched at The Bayside Restaurant. From the outside, it appears to be your typical New England clam shack serving non-descript variations of fried seafood. But the menu and the quality of their entrees outweighed any notion of mediocrity. And they're green! And if you're looking for the best lobster roll in New England, well, check out The Bayside Restaurant. Yes, I said it. Best Lobster Roll. Capital B, L, R. You'll get a hot dog roll filled with chunks of lobster meat, undressed. They serve melted butter and mayo on the side; that's next to the side of awesome.

We headed down to the Cape for the evening, staying at a family friend's place in Hyannis. Dinner was fairly plain, but the drinks at the British Beer Company were great! I partook in a spiced rum hot apple cider, perfect for a cool autumn Hyannis evening.

Sunday morning was unusually warm for the likes of mid-November. There was not frost, but a dewy haze on the front lawn and the air in the house was slightly cooler than it was outside. So we packed up our gear and boarded a ferry to Martha's Vineyard. Little did I know my visions of brunching at Art Cliff Diner and biking all over the island on a sunny day would quickly turn into Destination Proposalville.

We ate brunch at Art Cliff last year, but unfortunately it was closed when we arrived. Instead, we opted for Eggwiches at Beetlebung Coffeehouse, an inferior yet filling meal that I thought would be fueling a 20+ mile bike ride.

Instead, Tim suggested we should just go for a walk. You know, let the eggwich settle.

"Let's walk up to the West Chop lighthouse, maybe see if there's a beach to hang out at up there."

I should have known something was suspect when he said he wanted to go for a walk. Tim hates to walk. The only time he believes walking serves a purpose is if it's down the fairway on a golf course.

But we walked anyway, me taking photos along the way, he trying hard to conceal the brown and teal box hidden in his pocket.

(This is Tim concealing the box in his pocket.)

(This is the Martha's Vineyard Black Dog laughing at him.)

Two and a half miles later, we arrived at the West Chop lighthouse. A disappointment, really. It was the smallest lighthouse I'd seen. A house with a second floor silo that doubles as a lighthouse. So we continued on to the beach. The beach that we couldn't find. I was ready to turn around and head back, determined to ride bikes, but Tim said we should walk just a little further, down a private road even. Well, of course I saw an unusual bird craning its neck on a rickety old dock that I just had to have a photo of. Private property? Maybe. Trespassing? Perhaps. Next thing I know, Tim is stopping me from returning to the main road, me muttering something about someone calling the cops, he fumbling for something in his pocket.

Now it made sense why he did not want to rent bikes. He was carrying around an engagement ring!

And then he got down on one knee.

Yes, I cried. A lot. But I cry a lot of happy tears, so it was totally normal. I even hysterically laughed at one point, envisioning myself trying to explain to a cop why we were standing in someone's backyard oceanfront property half-crying and half-laughing hysterically.

I set my camera on a rock and took photos the moment after he slipped the ring on my finger.

I believe it was perfect.

I Eat Words

2011-11-06T19:57:00.001-05:00

I possess a weakness for bookstores. Barnes & Noble gives me butterflies, and I mourned the closing of Borders. But oh, independent bookstores make me weak in the knees. They are the 6th Avenue of my reading dreams. And I've always admired a well-stocked library. I've felt most comfortable and at home between the quiet and narrow rows of collections, musty with age and use. I don't have an e-reader, but don't know if I want one. I appreciate the tactile and emotional connection with pages, spines and hard covers. I prefer paying a horn-rimmed glasses-wearing cashier for my books.

And in these places, I tend to head toward familiar shelves: shelves holding food writing tomes. Elation filled my bookworm heart when I found Rabelais in Portland. Or strolled the aisles of Strand Bookstore in New York City. Or browsed the cookbooks in Berkeley's Pegasus. Or revisit Amherst Books and Food for Thought in Amherst again and again. I imagine one day to live in a home with a study, wall to wall with shelves holding beautiful and classical works. Only a well-used kitchen where the sunlight streams across a worn wood floor or a farmers market bursting with wooden baskets filled with butternut squash and bunches of kale trumps this sense of place.

I just purchased Best Food Writing 2011 and What Einstein Told His Cook. I recently completed Bird by Bird, and while it is not a volume of food writing, it is still a text about writing (and life, for that matter): the struggle and success of it all.

I've also recently discovered Cook's Illustrated, and cannot seem to part from my monthly edition of Eating Well.

So when I'm not trolling Pinterest, stalking Twitter or reading Facebook status updates, you will find me curled up on the couch reading.

Question of the Day: What are some of your favorite food writing texts? Magazines? Collections?

A Wintry Mix

2011-10-29T17:38:00.000-04:00

Just dropping in to give a quick hello while I assemble my Halloween costume. I am currently tangled up in shiny gold fabric and speckled with red and blue fabric dye. I'll be back with a photo soon. But I'll give you a hint:

(source)

I also wanted to show you another spectacularly cartoonish sight: Snow. At the farmers market. In October. Taken yesterday. That white stuff on the ground is indeed snow.

REALLY?! I can't even believe there was enough snow for some kid to build this!

And right now, snow is wildly falling from the sky and piling up on my freshly cut grass. The meteorologists predict another 12 inches of snow overnight, with the possibility of strong winds and power outages.

I suppose winter is here.

Tofu Testimonial

2011-10-27T06:22:00.000-04:00

I'll admit it. I love tofu. I am one of those tofu-eating gals who talks about her tofu, kale, kabocha squash and other unlikely foods like they were some long lost lover.

I've heard my Team Tofu cohorts say to the unconverted, "you just need to know how to cook it." Are they ever right.

It's taken me a few years, but I have finally mastered the art of the soybean curd. There are a few non-negotiables when it comes to cooking and eating tofu.

1. An open mind. At one of my Cooking Matters classes last week, I had some vegans in the group. We altered our recipe and made a small tofu lasagna to accompany our traditional vegetable lasagna. Everyone tried it, counter to my expectations. The vegan loved it, but the most unlikely suspects ALSO loved it. (Well, at least they said they did. But in my defense, their plates were cleaned and there were no piles of crumbled tofu lasagna under the table.)
2. A good quality tofu. I just tried Vermont Soy tofu, firm-style after not buying it for a couple years. What a high-quality product! The texture was more "meat-like" than the brands I buy at the grocer.
3. Squeeze it. Get rid of as much of the water as you can. I swear by Janel's Slice, Freeze and Squeeze method.

4. Pan sear it in a saucy glaze. I used Terry Walter's ginger lime glaze. Mmm. My overzealousness led to a slightly burnt tofu, but it still was far superior to any I've ever cooked up to that point.

Question of the Day: Are you on Team Tofu or still on the fence?

Afternoon Snack

2011-10-24T20:01:00.000-04:00

Remember when you used to come home from school and rifle through the cabinets and refrigerator for the perfect afternoon snack? My favorites used to be anything salty or sweet. Really anything I could get my grubby little elementary-schooler hands on. In our pre-teen years, my sister and I would start our homework, plant ourselves in front of the television and watch TRL or play card games with the kids we babysat.

There was even this time when I was very young and I was walking home from school and my aunt drove by. This was pre-pre-teen. Testing my knowledge of what to do when approached by a stranger, she asked me from the shade of her car if I wanted any candy. Instead of running away and screaming, I asked her what kind. My family still won't let me live this one down.

I still get the afternoon snack attack and have been searching for a healthful idea that I won't feel guilty about, will give me the energy to finish a busy afternoon of work, but not fill me up so much that I pass on dinner.

I rode the cracker kick for a while. Crackers, fig spread, and a smidge of Brie felt decadent and quite satisfying. But I grew tired of this, and found a recipe for Carrot Cashew Miso Spread in Terry Walter's Clean Start cookbook.

I typically don't have miso and was not about to spend the fortune it costs at my local grocer, so I made some substitutions. This simple spread harmoniously blends veggies, nuts and the flavors of fall.

A mouthful of autumn, really.

And please slather it on crisp apple slices. While it's good on crackers, it's rather superb on apples.

Cinnamony Carrot Cashew Spread
(inspired and adapted from Terry Walter's Carrot Cashew Miso Spread in Clean Start)

5 medium carrots, peeled and chopped
3/4 cup raw cashews
1 cup vegetable stock + 1 cup water
1/8 tsp cumin
1 tsp cinnamon
1 tsp kosher salt
1 tsp sesame seeds (optional)

In a small pot of boiling vegetable stock, boil carrots and cashews for 10 minutes. Remove and put into a food processor with 1 cup of the vegetable stock/water mixture and pulse. Add cumin, cinnamon and salt and blend until smooth.

Question of the Day: What do you snack on in the afternoons?

10 Ways to Celebrate Food Day

2011-10-19T21:06:00.003-04:00

Have you heard of Food Day?

"Food Day will be October 24—in 2011 and in years to come. Food Day seeks to bring together Americans from all walks of life—parents, teachers, and students; health professionals, community organizers, and local officials; chefs, school lunch providers, and eaters of all stripes—to push for healthy, affordable food produced in a sustainable, humane way. We will work with people around the country to create thousands of events in homes, schools, churches, farmers markets, city halls, and state capitals.

Senator Tom Harkin (D-IA) and Representative Rosa DeLauro (D-CT) are the Honorary Co-Chairs for Food Day 2011, and the day is sponsored by the Center for Science in the Public Interest, the nonprofit watchdog group that has led successful fights for food labeling, better nutrition, and safer food since 1971. Like CSPI, Food Day will be people-powered and does not accept funding from government or corporations—though restaurants, supermarkets, and others are certainly encouraged to observe Food Day in their own ways.

Food Day is backed by an impressive advisory board that includes anti-hunger advocates, physicians, authors, politicians, and leaders of groups focused on everything from farmers markets to animal welfare to public health. But the most important ingredient in Food Day is you—and we invite you to organize an event and help make Food Day a success." (source)

The inaugural Food Day is next Monday, October 24; there are lots of options for you to participate in and celebrate food in whatever way you feel fit. I'll be partaking in the Food Day celebrations. Here are 10 ways you can celebrate!

Learn more about Why to Eat Real.
Attend an event in your community or on your campus. Find an event near you.
Host a Food Day potluck with friends. Prepare a recipe from the Food Day Cookbook!
Purchase some Food Day swag.
Support the third tenet of Food Day that seeks to expand access to food and end hunger. Sign a pledge to protect food and end hunger, both nationally with Share Our Strength and internationally with End Hunger.
Spread the Food Day word by following Food Day on Facebook and Twitter at @CSPI, hashtag: #foodday.
Subscribe to CSPI's Nutrition Action Newsletter to keep up to date with the latest nutrition trends and news. It is bar none my favorite, informative, and most influential newsletter I receive in my mailbox.
View a film that expounds upon our food system in America. FRESH, Food Inc., The Greenhorns, King Corn. Serious Eats has a great list of other food system-related movies.
Read a book about our food system. I have a list of delicious reading here.
Talk to everyone you know about Food Day. Spread the word and celebrate!

I'll be moderating a panel tomorrow night at Worcester State. We'll be viewing FRESH the Movie and discussing the progress of the food movement happening in Worcester. Please see the Hunger-Free and Healthy blog for more details.

I'll also be attending the Food Day Festival on Saturday October 22nd in Worcester. Stop by for your local farmers market goodies!

For additional local Food Day events, follow Worcester Food Day on Facebook.

Question of the Day: How will you be celebrating Food Day?

Surprise!

2011-10-18T19:59:00.000-04:00

The fact that Tim decided that the silence on my little blog corner of the interweb had been deafening and took the reigns means that I've really been slacking. But it's not like I've been lounging on the patio sipping mimosas and reading the latest celeb gossip.

I'm coming to believe my calling has been event planning with a nutrition twist. Surprise birthday and anniversary parties. Professional events. Cooking classes. Blogger dinners. That is what I've been up to these days.

One of my favorite events that I coordinated was Tim's surprise birthday. He turned thirty on Monday (wish him a belated happy birthday on Twitter at @fittochange!) and so myself and some home-cooks-turned-caterers (his mom, stepmom, my parents, my aunt and many other gracious hands) whipped up a party for sixty of our family and friends, complete with a shockingly awesome surprised face that made it all worth it. We celebrated in a lakehouse cabin complete with exposed beams, a lake-facing porch, fireside rocking chairs and the largest spiders I've seen on the Eastern seaboard. But it was all worth it. Spider terror and all.

This was the beautifully long table we gathered around to celebrate the old man's birthday.

We spent some quality time in rockers on the porch overlooking the lake and the sunset.

And no time is a good time without a gangster pose photo.

After a night of catching up with friends and family from out of town, we woke up and assembled breakfast: coffee and blueberry pancakes!

Breakfast table view.

The weekend proceeded to bring with it a long, leisurely bike rides, raucous games of Bananagrams, and some seriously jumbo toasted marshmallows.

It was just a great excuse to party and celebrate my favorite person's milestone.

Yes. Just to clarify, that person waving a flaming marshmallow is my favorite person. Oh dear.

Tim's Post Takeover!!!!

2011-10-12T22:20:00.000-04:00

Hi.

Nice to meet you.

I'm Tim.

Go grab a drink if you want- it's ok, I'll wait.

Better? Good.

There, now that we've met, you might be thinking to yourself, "Self, where have I seen that name before?" You might remember me from such amazing blog posts as, well, as pretty much all of them. I am the dork that shows up in Jessica's wonderful posts as comedic relief and ruins most of her beautiful pictures by either being in them or by eating a bite before she can get her camera out. That being said, I thought it would be a wonderful idea if she let me guest post on her blog to see what I could come up with.

Me, after Jessica relinquished creative control!

However, first I had to come up with something I could actually make. This took some serious thought as my culinary skills extend well into the realms of cold cereal, toast, oatmeal, steak, steak, steak and sometimes chicken. Not a ton of options on that list for a food blog. So I settled on steak.

Then after more deliberation, I figured I would combine my love of steak with something else very near and dear to my heart.......BEER!! This combination would be a delicacy of epic proportions! And Tim's Guinness Stew was born (with help from www.Epicurious.com).

The REAL star of the post.

Since this is a guest post and the post of a novice cook and food blogger, there will be pretty much no common cooking or food terms. If I do use them, there will be a 50/50 chance that I messed up the term. Remember, you were warned, and this is my post. So there.

Potatoes, Carrots and Celery.
In a bowl.

Things you will need:

3 pounds Beef pre cubed is easier if you can get it.

2 tablespoons all-purpose flour

1 teaspoon salt

1/2 teaspoon black pepper

3 tablespoons vegetable oil

1 large onion, coarsely (whatever that means) chopped

2 garlic cloves, chopped

2 carrots

2 stalks of celery

3 small potatoes

4 tablespoons of water

1 1/2 tablespoons tomato paste

4 cups beef broth

1 cup Guinness - by cup I really mean 1 can (seriously for this much meat it wont hurt).

Big Pot (5 to 6 quart oven safe preferably)

Step 1. Buy food. Just kidding.

Step 1. Flour beef in a separate bowl before you do anything and preheat oven to 350 degrees
Step 2. Saute onions, garlic and oil in a large pot.
Step 3. Brown the meat in a large pot on moderate high heat. Use some extra olive oil so the meat doesn't burn.
Step 4. Add half a can of Guinness once the beef is nice and brown
Step 5. Drink other half of Guinness
Step 6. Add tomato paste and beef broth
Step 7. Bring to simmer, then add a second half a can of Guinness if you drank the first remaining half
Step 8. Add water, potatoes, carrots and celery
Step 9. Repeat step 5
Step 10. Add Salt and pepper to taste

At this point, it should vaguely resemble this.

Step 11. Place in oven for 2 hours.
Step 12. Enjoy with friends and loved ones. Or alone (with enough extra for weeks!).

Beautiful Beefiness!

The Guinness really helps to tenderize the meat and adds a wonderful flavor. Thanks for reading and for those of you wondering, Jessica will return next week with something much more mature for both the palate and the mind. I hope your Guinness stew turns out as amazing as mine did. And if it doesn't, the wonderful thing about cooking with beer is you can drink until it tastes edible. Good luck and bottoms' up!

Backyard Anniversary Party

2011-09-25T21:11:00.001-04:00

This weekend, my sister and I (with the help of many amazing hands) hosted a 30th anniversary party in my backyard. It was a few months in the making, many weeks of keeping the secret, and one sleepless night as I did the no-rain dance and worried that our backyard and the rented tent would not fit fifty people.

But the rain held off.

No one spoiled the surprise.

Everyone was a guest of honor.

And we all enjoyed our time together. That is, until the mosquitoes came out in droves. But regardless, we partied anyway.

Happy Anniversary! Love you.

Roasted Red Pepper Aubergine Dip

2011-09-24T08:20:00.002-04:00

If I called it baba ganoush, you might not have clicked over for the recipe. But for the sake of truth, I made baba ganoush.

My fridge bursts with two items right now from my CSA that I cannot seem to keep up with: corn and eggplants. Eggplants are also known as aubergines; I propose making the official name switch to aubergine, as it is much more romantic and regal-sounding. Ron Artest changed his name to Metta World Peace, so is changing the name of a vegetable really a stretch here?

Anyway, the eggplant creep started, and there were eggplants peeking out from behind the milk, occupying the entire vegetable drawer, and even crowding out the eggs, yogurt and cheese. Something had to be done with this blossoming eggplant empire.

Enter roasted red pepper eggplant dip. This dip makes a perfect light lunch and could even be a great party appetizer with some crackers and slices of pepper and cucumber.

So gather up those eggplants hiding in every crevice of the refrigerator and slice them in half lengthwise. Add a whole red pepper and one banana pepper because you know as well as I do that they'll rot in the chasms of the crisper if you don't. Just speaking from experience here. Add some cloves of garlic for good measure because roasted garlic imparts excellent flavor to this dip. Toss all vegetables with a good glug of olive oil and some kosher salt.

Roast vegetables at 400 degrees for 45 minutes, turning once.

In a nearby pot, add two cups of vegetable stock and 1/4 cup tahini and simmer. Remove eggplant skins, red pepper skins and seeds, and garlic cloves and add to simmering water. Using an immersion blender, blend all ingredients until smooth.

Unfortunately pureed soups are never very photogenic and fail to capture the depth of flavor in this vegetable-packed dip. But paired with some salty kalamata olives for snacking and shards of whole wheat wasa crackers, you will not need some beautiful photo to tell you how delicious it is.

Roasted Red Pepper Aubergine Dip
(inspired by Eat, Live, Run's baba ganoush soup)
Makes dip for 4, lunch for 2

6 small eggplants (or three large), any variety
1 red pepper
1 banana pepper
4 small cloves of garlic, unpeeled
4 Tbsp olive oil
1 Tbsp kosher salt
2 cups vegetable stock
1/4 cup tahini

Preheat oven to 400 degrees. Slice eggplants in half. Rub eggplants, peppers, and garlic with olive oil and salt, coating completely and place on a aluminum foil-covered tray. Roast for 45 minutes, turning once. Remove from oven and peel eggplant, pepper and garlic skins and pepper seeds and discard. Add peeled eggplant, garlic and peppers to a simmering pot of the vegetable stock and tahini. Blend until smooth with an immersion blender. Can be served warm or cold. Serve with crackers or slices of vegetables.
--
Other things I'm loving lately

Life has been very hectic lately, but quite fun. Here's a list of things that have been occupying my time or interest, but in a good way.

Hot yoga at my local studio

Eating yellow watermelon

End-of-summer/autumn imbibition - Shipyard's Pumpkinhead, Raspberry wine

Local art festivals including some great vendors like Lucky Bird Studio, Tri SERIF Tops, Purple Ink Press, and Rebecca Haas Jewelry.

Unique business card holders from Lucky Bird Studio

Antique bead earrings from Lucky Bird Studio

Bananagrams (Note: as a Scrabble fanatic, I'm not sure how this game has JUST entered my realm of knowing.)

Question of the Day: Do you also agree that eggplants should now be dubbed aubergines?

Portland Farmers Market

2011-09-15T21:47:00.001-04:00

A few weeks ago Tim and I visited some friends in Maine for the weekend. We drove separately; I had to work on that Friday and Tim was off golfing with some friends. On the way through Portland to our friend's house just north of the city, I remembered seeing somewhere that Portland's farmers market was on Saturday mornings. Sure enough, I found out that the market was indeed happening. And I was veering off the exit to get there.

I'm glad I did. There were hundreds of pounds of tomatoes and cucumbers bursting from each farmer's booth, but I did manage to find two peculiar items I hadn't seen being sold at a market before.

The edible flower nasturtium.

Snake melons.

And, of course, the requisite banjo and fiddle players.

We spent most of our weekend lounging at the beach and didn't get back into Portland to experience the food scene that I love so much there; although, we did eat at The Lobster Shack at Two Lights, a quintessential Maine experience.

Question of the Day: What's the most unusual item you've seen sold at a farmers market?

Birthday Brunch

2011-09-12T19:26:00.001-04:00

This post has been a couple weeks coming. Hurricane Irene literally rained on my parade when I attempted to coordinate a group of friends for a birthday brunch a couple weeks back. I'm glad we didn't go in August, though, because this weekend was the most perfect weather for a trip to the local winery.

I'm finding that my waxing poetic seems to take on themes. A list of things that I come back to year after year. In August, it was peaches. Hard to believe, I know. But I find every few months I want to write about a trip taken to the Nashoba Valley Winery for a birthday, festival, anniversary, apple picking, or wine tasting. Now really, what more could you need?

We spent the late morning sipping coffee and chatting with each other, friends from different circles getting to know each other and raving over the brunch spread set before us. Maple sausage scramble, homemade hummus and sliced garden vegetables, eggs and grits, seaweed salad, mushroom cheese fondue with slices of the winery's apples, freshly baked bread, banana French toast, smoked trout, watermelon and berries. Some of it was locally-sourced, while other parts were not. But in all its peculiar pairing (seaweed salad AND fresh watermelon? Not together, I assure you.) there was a cohesiveness that just worked.

After brunch, we headed toward the main building, pining for some tastes of the local spirits. Some of our favorites were the sweet fruit dessert wines - peach, raspberry, strawberry. Summer in a bottle. We meandered around the store for a while, but stuck close to the tasting room where we went in and out, tasting each other's wine and beer samples and discussing which we liked and didn't.

Heading into the bright, warm fall air, we decided our last activity would be to pick some apples. The early Macs were ready, so we filled our plastic bag with the greenish red fruit, trying to only stick to trees that had fruit ready to pick. I might be guilty of being reprimanded by the apple police for not paying attention and picking forbidden fruit from an unmarked tree. Not on purpose though, I swear.

A beautiful weekend for a trip to the winery. Perhaps there will be another trip again in the very near future.

I Know What I Did This Summer

2011-09-05T10:51:00.002-04:00

It's official. I have an addiction. And it is to peaches. I consumed about 25 peaches in the last seven days in the form of chocolate lava peaches, peach crisp, and peaches fresh off the pit. I weighed myself this morning to check if I had gained peach pounds. I've waxed poetic enough about these alluring stone fruits in the last post, so I'm moving on to another favorite topic of mine: lists.

I wrote a summer to-do list back in June with all the lofty and practical items I wanted to accomplish by fall. And since Labor Day weekend is the unofficial end of summer (although I'm fighting its departure tooth and nail), I thought I'd give you an update.

My 2011 Summer Wish List

~~Dig out ugly rhododendrons in front yard.~~ We trimmed them instead so now we can see out the front windows.
~~Build stone patio in the backyard~~. Success! We've been enjoying all summer.
Get radon test. Not that it's a concern, but I'd rather be safe to know than sorry. Apparently the test requires keeping all windows and doors closed for 48 hours, and I just can't pull myself together to do this during the hot days. I'll revisit in the fall.
~~Paint interior trim white.~~
~~Paint living room.~~
~~Update living room carpet and curtains.~~ A trip to Ikea took care of this.
~~Update desk in living room.~~
~~Paint kitchen cabinets~~.
Visit Templeton Falls. Will go when it's less buggy.
~~Get finances in order~~. I joined mint.com and it has been a great organization tool.
Train for Cape Cod Marathon. This one has fallen flat on its face. Tim and I are burnt out runners, so we decided to re-invest our workout time and do P90X.
~~Set up home office.~~
Double dig garden plot. Nope.
Plant a garden. Also didn't happen. Although I managed to keep a potted basil plant alive.
Replace hallway light fixture. Will require some electrical finagling.
~~Visit Bridge of Flowers.~~
Update kitchen backsplash.
Run Mt. Monadnock.
~~Buy coffee table.~~
Hike Mt. Washington.
~~Remove crooked basketball hoop from driveway.~~
Plan trip to Ireland. Go to Ireland. Still in the planning and information-gathering stages.
~~Visit Portland.~~ Even visited the farmers market!
Surf at Narragansett Beach. We were planning on going this weekend, but the threat of thunderstorms kept us home.
~~Eat seafood in Wellfleet.~~
~~Plan a trip to Colorado~~. Part 1, part 2, part 3, part 4, part 5.
Fix wonky kitchen cabinet door. Still wonky.
Update cleaning supplies. Have updated a few, but not enough to confidently cross off.
Save at least $xxxx dollars in savings.
~~Fix driveway.~~
Learn how to sew.
Relearn how to knit.
~~Buy a harmonica.~~
~~Learn how to play harmonica.~~

Last week, I added another list to the refrigerator, this one dubbed the "Summer 2011 Wish List Addenda."

Summer 2011 Wish List Addenda

Fix washer machine plumbing. See: "fix driveway" on primary list. They are related in an odd and annoying way.
Take defunct freezer to the dump.
Get rid of old desks. Craigslisted one. Still got two.
~~Seed grass.~~
~~Reorganize coat closet.~~
Donate old winter coats. Buy new L.L. Bean coats: His and Hers.
~~Mow lawn.~~
Tar driveway.
~~Get bike tuned up.~~
Buy bike trainer.
Set up bike hooks in basement.
Organize CD and DVD racks.
Get new mop.
Break 50 on 9 holes of golf.

Honorable Mentions

~~Eat a farm to table dinner.~~ Did this twice!
~~Got feathers in my hair.~~
~~Had professional headshots taken~~.
~~Research rescuing a greyhound.~~
~~Saved front yard pines from being strangled to death from invasive bittersweet vines.~~

I'm proud of the dent Tim and I made. My goal of goals is to go back over these, remove the things I know won't happen (ahem, run another marathon) and revise to create a conglomerated Fall 2011 List.

If you're fed up with these lists and bulleted items, no fear. Look at pretty pictures instead. Here are some of my favorite summer photos.

Question of the Day: What were the highlights of your summer?

Chocolate Lava Peaches

2011-08-30T06:14:00.000-04:00

There has been a lot of time spent in these lately.

Hurricane Irene had her way, immediately on the heels of our recently paved driveway and subsequent fractured drain system around our house. Suffice it to say that there are branches, leaves and laundry detergent in the front yard (don't ask), hurricane water in our basement and I have the plumber and paver on speed dial.

I also wore these boots pre-Irene when we visited Apple Barn Farm last weekend for some peach picking. We ended up with the "Irene Special": twenty-five pounds of freshly picked peaches meant for canning. They are slightly maimed and disfigured but otherwise just as tastebud-tantalizing as their grade A counterparts. And they were already picked, crated, and weighed because the farmer was worried they would blow down and she'd lose money. At only 99 cents per pound, I was in peach heaven. Unfortunately, I didn't get to test drive my boots in the peach orchard, but I had plenty of time in them during the storm instead.

We brought our crates of peaches home and began processing them. Boiling for one minute, gingerly peeling the rubbery, scalding skin off, slicing in half and bagging. Six freezer bags squished into the freezer. We'll be enjoying peach smoothies daily for the remainder of the year and a reminder of the weekend with Irene.

I left a few aside to eat for snacks this week. After dinner, I experimented with one, knowing I wanted a little chocolate with this sweet peach.

So I cut it in half, running the knife down the natural groove, splitting it easily in half.

I removed the pit and replaced the crevices with exactly five dark chocolate chips each.

The peach halves were microwaved for 1:15 minutes until I could see the chocolate bubbling and excavating down into the meat of the peach, creating a caldera filled with chocolate lava.

A drizzle of honey, a pinch of kosher salt, and a twist of the Trader Joe's sugar chocolate coffee bean grinder and I weakened in the knees. I [unattractively] licked the plate's juicy honey and chocolate whisps without reserve.

The exalted combination of warm peach, silky chocolate and the coarse sugar, salt and coffee beans will make you forget about your water leakage and basement troubles. Or any other troubles your momentarily having, for that matter.

Farm to Fork Birthday Dinner at Gibbett Hill Grill

2011-08-26T09:01:00.016-04:00

It happened coincidentally that I received an email for the Gibbet Hill Grill's farm to fork dinner the same day that I had the opportunity to attend the Outstanding in the Field dinner at Apple Crest Farm Orchards. Not one to miss an opportunity to partake in community dinners conducted by chefs that source all their ingredients locally, I immediately signed up. And, the stars aligned and the dinner happened to be on my birthday.

So last night we headed to Gibbet Hill Grill, a restaurant we keep in our back pocket for birthday parties, anniversaries and other special occasions.

The dinner was held in the function hall. This building and location would be a beautiful place for a wedding or other large special occasion.

Passed appetizers and celebratory champagne (after all, it was my birthday) began as soon as we arrived. We chatted with the sous chef Danielle about the appetizers, the farms they were sourced from and the overall goal of Gibbet Hill Grill's commitment to locally-sourced ingredients. The entire meal was created with items grown or produced in Massachusetts, minus the salt used to brighten up the flavor and texture - the chef did try though. Apparently you can source Maine salt, but it was prohibitively expensive for the amount that would be needed for this meal.

Gibbet Hill Farm radishes with freshly made golden butter. I don't recall a time when I've eaten a brighter, more flavorful fat.

Bruscetta with tomatoes, jalapenos and fresh mozzarella. No olive oil!

Pat Woodbury's oysters on the half shell (my new favorite)

Appetizers that went unpictured or too blurry to publish because I was juggling an appetizer, glass of champagne and a camera were pork rillette, cucumber mint shooters, and beef stuffed cabbage.

Aside the food came a wine pairing with each course. Two of the three wines were not local; I actually preferred the one local wine to the two Californians.

The white

The red

Dessert wine. I've never tasted apple ice wine, but I'm a fan. And the Still River Winery lives so close to home! Consider this winery's product a naughty apple juice. I tasted the sweetness and crispness of late fall apples on a cold October day. It would certainly be my choice over any other dessert wine I've tried.

Second course: zucchini terrine with cippolini onion puree

Third course: Springdell Farm lamb cuts with eggplant and goat cheese "pillows" and carrot puree

Fourth Course: Poached peaches with a peach-honey-thyme granita and fresh whipped cream. The most thoughtful part of this course was that Chef Tom did not use any sugar besides honey to sweeten it. He reduced sauces and created a depth of flavor using herbs. Hands down, the complexity of this dish made it the best course and a perfect way to wind down my 27th birthday.

[Enter obligatory "I-forgot-to-take-a-photo-of-us-at-my-birthday-dinner" self photo here.]

Gibbet Hill Grill is hosting a second farm to fork dinner on September 22nd. For more information, check the out their website.

And the birthday weekend filled with celebratory meals continues...

Disclaimer: I was not paid or compensated in any way to promote Gibbet Hill Grill or their farm to fork dinners.