Fancy Food Show 2012-Highlights

I have to say I was fairly impressed this year. I managed to avoid most of the scary, dye filled unpronounceable stuff, so I must say a hearty 'yay' to that! I came across more than one product that I would willing buy. Some of them are fairly well known and others totally new. I was also really excited to see so many people finally coming to the dark side of spices and using Cardamom! I have been a cardamom addict for years and so I adored Three Twins Cardamom Ice Cream (also really, their Lemon Cookie!), Helliemae's Cardamom caramels and Numi's Cardamom Pu-erh.

I know Lemonaise has been around for quite a while, but I honestly have never tried them before today. Now that I have, I can see this be a product I'd like to have around. I adore lemon so the richness and the lemon combined are a real winner for me. On the new product tip, I went out of my way to find the Almond water because I was quite curious. I agree with their own words: refreshing!

I had the chance to try the new Kerrygold premium butter, which is quite lovely. And for all you low fat fans, they have a reduced fat version which doesn't lack flavor. A highlight for me was the fun family behind SchoolHouse Kitchen. They actually engaged me on Twitter, which I loved, and when I showed up to see them they were so friendly and had super tasty offerings! I love their Ginger Lime Vinaigrette, the orange & Chili chutney and the Cherry Blackberry Jam. Mmmmm....jam.

Speaking of fruit filled goodness, I also loved the sunshine of Fran's1941 Apricot Magic from La Bonita and the jams from Tropical Fruit Stand, including the surprising (because I don't really like them) Banana, Passion Fruit and Pineapple.

I also adored Sonoma Brinery because pickles are a weakness of mine though I rarely buy them. These however may have a permanent place in my fridge alongside the pulp filled Blue Monkey coconut water. Fresh, clean and no bitter aftertaste makes this a good choice.

Last but not least, I was happy to see an old favorite roll out two new flavors. Plush Puffs has a mango marshmallow and a cherry chocolate marshmallow now and I gotta say, that chocolate cherry really hot the spot! I will be writing about some more good finds soon, so stayed tuned!

Kwanzaa

This month I had the chance to write not one but two articles on Kwanzaa and it was quite a learning experience. I figured out why my dad was so against celebrating, as it was clearly due to the usavory past of the holidays creator.

I also realize that may people I know try to embody the principles everyday, which I think we can and should. For example, cooperative economics, the act of creating and supporting local business should be paramount to our daily lives. As should exercising our creativity and doing our best for the community.

Here's a link to both articles which are different and yet on the same subject. Find your principles and live them everyday for a happy healthier you!

http://kwanzaaculinarians.com/2011/12/29/lunas-kitchen-magic-celebrates-ujamaa/

This one comes with a lentil recipe!
http://foodzie.com/blog/2011/12/a-taste-of-kwanzaa/

Silent Saturday: Food, Glorious Food

Brunch at 15 Romolo. Heather and Deb took me for my birthday.

As you can see, it was really good!

Salad topped with onion rings is the way to go.

Roasted goose at the Tasty Awards launch party

Tantilizing Thursday: Tacolicious

RePost: Afternoon Walnut French Toast

Afternoon Walnut French Toast

The trick to good French toast is not just the quality of the ingredients, but how long you allow the bread to soak. You cannot rush through it as you want the bread to be toasted and yet still have give on the inside.


I am not big on syrup, so I actually like to just add a bit of sugar to my mix, to give it a bit of sweetness and for flavor I use vanilla flavored sugar. You cannot rush food if you plan to enjoy it and thus you must take the time to care about what you are doing. This goes along well with the easy simplicity of breakfast for lunch.

Gather:

1 loaf of walnut bread or other favorite bread (1-2 slices per person)
Eggs
Vanilla Sugar
Milk
Butter or oil

Whisk eggs and sugar with milk. You need just enough for however much you are making. So per person about 1 egg, 2 tsp sugar and 2 tsp milk.

Soak your bread and heat the butter/oil in your pan.

Cook on medium heat until cooked through. Serve with something yummy such as some form of bacon or a lovely glass of tea!

The Pantry Files

Privilege per Webster's is defined as a right or immunity granted as a benefit, advantage, or favor

Perception seems a bit tougher, involving observation and comprehension...

This past weekend I spent time at my older sister's house in Oregon and both my brother & were left with some serious questions. My sister has the perception that in comparison to her own diet, my mother's is extremely unhealthy as my mother likes the occasional cookie or donut or candy bar.

Yet my sister's pantry is filled with boxed and canned goods filled with sodium that Mom's diet should not include. We ate fried eggs and pork products everyday. Erica made cupcakes from a mix, used frosting from a container and baked premade biscuits, all of which have partially hydrogenated oil.

Oh and she drinks Ovaltine everyday. Isn't that technically a sweet?

The third, or maybe it was the sixth, time my sister griped about my mother wanting to buy danishes at the store, I opened the pantry and said "Do you have any idea how much sodium is in all this stuff?" Her response was a shrug and a comment about the fact that her husband liked that food, so that is what they had.

The only meals with vegetables we had were Thursday at Sizzler because we had the salad bar and Friday night when my brother made vegetable goulash with veggies my mom gave us money for. 

This has got me deeply thinking. I came home to a lovely beef stew with fresh potatoes, sweet potatoes and green beans. The weekend left me longing for fish. My perception is that my mother is eating the same crap my sister is serving only adding a few sweets here and there. My mother is known for liking her dessert, and we used to have 'a little something' every night when we were kids. In summer she would buy strawberries and douse them in sugar before putting them in the fridge and I would always ask if she could leave just a few plain so I could eat them that way.


So am I just responding like someone of privilege who is lucky enough to eat fresh produce with ease and has almost no canned or boxed food in their home? Or is this an issue of perception: she believes that canned food is perfectly acceptable because it isn't sugar and in her view the lack of sugar makes it 'healthy'?


When we stopped by the Ashland Co-Op on Sunday, Erica commented that she noticed how expensive things were. I said that with all my health issues in the past and our family health history I was willing to pay a little more for good, fresh food that wouldn't make me sick. She responded in the positive, so maybe in the end, she heard me after all.

Friday Food Photos

The Blogger in Me: Project FoodBuzz

Baking pastry is like magic
like all the food I create
love pours from my fingers
in the form of butter, sugar and eggs
whipped, creamed, beaten
so they can thrive to become
the gift of a kitchen witch
and I can share my soul

Cooking is creation
the joys of the share
food can be a revelation
with sweet scents in the air
pumpkin challah, rosewater cupcakes,
or just plain old chorizo soup
let me make you a little happier
and help chase away your blues

Eat oysters and sushi with me
we will drink champagne until dawn
I am so much more than just a food blogger
chef, singer, artist,
creator of desserts so right they are wrong

I write because I love it and
words flow from my fingers
like sugar into a bowl as
I make cranberry pecan brownies
and drink a classic cocktail

Come into my kitchen
magic you will see,
I create with passionate joy
and with passionate joy you eat

Fat Fannys, where art thou?

I'm not sure what sparked the memory of one of my favorite childhood dining spots. Perhaps it's because I am nearing my birthday. Or just that food has so many feelings attached to it, cookies, cakes...fries.

My dad discovered this place while working: Fat Fannys in San Ramon. I don't remember the food at all, just that it was up a flight of stairs and there in the half darkness, amazingly backlit booths lay mecca.

All of the servers dressed in costume. Oh and you ordered extra food from a phone in your booth!

My dad, knowing that his daughters would nearly die from the delight of being waited on by cute boys in wild outfits, of course took us right away. On any given day, your waiter could be a doctor, rock star or Robin Hood. Or even better, you might get Snow White, Marilyn Monroe or Wonder Woman. (Well, better if you are a little girl.)

We didn't go a lot as my parents were pretty strict about food, so it was always a real treat to go (and to pretend to forget our fries so we could order them by phone. My dad was a pretty cool guy.)

I miss the fun times we had at Fat Fannys, partly because I miss being a kid, eating with my family. And if there is ever another resturant filled with servers in costume, I am soooooo there. Especially if its my birthday!

Food & Memory; an ode to remembering some favorite foods

Gearing up for the SF Chocolate Salon, here is an ode I wrote last year that was inspired by one of the chocolates I experienced at the Fancy Food Show, which happens just before the Salon.

Each of us has memories that are tied to food. Lately, a lot of those memories have been surfacing for me. There are so many foods associated with memories, good, bad and otherwise.They can deeply affect how you eat later in life.

As a girl, I hated soul food, to my aunts disgust and ate mostly fruits and veggies, as well as seafood (to my older sisters' horror). Now, more willing to try new things, I also try to eat enough protein,, drink enough water and skip white bread.

But, oh for the days when we would eat toast (burnt for my family, they like it that way) & jam, light pouring into the dining room. Sitting around the table laughing, enjoying each others company.

Or Saturday morning cartoons, my grandmother yelling at us for eating cold pizza. Okay, well, I don't miss the yelling. But those moments, the innocence of childhood and eating with abandon....

Every Saturday, I got to go to my dad's work meeting. We would stop at the gas station, where he would buy me a small carton of orange juice & the box of chocolate cookies with the cat on the front. I was born to be a chocolate addict! And I lived for Saturdays.

Or going with my grandfather to the Dairy Queen, then owned by my family, for a cherry dip before my sisters' came home from school.....

Can anyone not say they have enjoyed fresh fruit, sun warmed and thought "This is what heaven might feel like"? Peaches, blackberries, strawberries, loquats, cherries, tangerines!

The Chuao Firecracker bar reminded me of something else: my grandfather used to sneak us poprocks! and soda! He thought it was hysterical and silly that his own daughter thought our heads would explode.

Food and memory serve us well, thus we should remember to honor both. The joy of what it feels like for the first berry of spring on your tongue. The memory of the first time you drank a glass of fresh cold lemonade.

The taste of fresh cut green onions on lemon seasoned fish.

A sip of wine or a sparkley drink. Take the time to slow down & enjoy your food, your memories will pay off in amazing ways.

Bryant Terry: Vegan Soul Kitchen

My interview with Bryant Terry was really quite fun. He is interesting, enthusiastic, and refreshing.

From being a chef to a food justice activist, his desire to make food more than just sustainable is eveident from the word go. He uses cooking as a way to engage young people and teach them how to lessen their impact on the environment.

This is a chef who wants more people to eat delicious food, and how to make a great meal.

Chef Bryant is actively & effectively challenging food streotypes, working to bring fresh, healthy food to those who would not otherwise encounter it. In the interview he shares with us what inspired him to become a chef, why he wrote Vegan Soul Kitchen and more!

Listen to the interview June 6 & 7 @ 7 p.m. EST!

http://www.bryant-terry.com/


http://www.peoplesgrocery.org/