An Autumn Feast

Our friend Paul is moving to LA so to bid him farewell, I cooked an autumn feast. The menu started with a salad of mixed greens, dried cranberries, crumbled danish blue cheese, and chopped walnuts with a mustard vinaigrette. Salad was followed by the main course, a fluffy and delicious Lasagne in Bianco, recipe recommended by Henry Quinn. Vegetables on the side included roasted butternut squash and Ina Garten's parmesan roasted broccoli, a truly inspired dish. By the way adding sliced garlic, lemon zest, and basil to roasted broccoli is genius. Last but not least, dessert. I was testing my recipe for the upcoming Enid's Apple Pie Bake-Off, so we ended the night with homemade apple pie. Paul also brought his delectable chocolate chip cookies, for which he is in the process of developing a new and complex recipe. I took the day to make this dinner and there is really nothing I love doing more.

Picking Apples, Eating Doughnuts

We were in Hartford for the marathon (which Mike ran in 3 hours and 36 minutes!) and it happens to be prime time for apples, and apple cider doughnuts down the road at Bushy Hill Orchard in Granby. By the time we got on the truck to "pick-our-own," I had already eaten three doughnuts, deliciously crisp on the outside, soft on the inside and covered with cinnamon and sugar. They actually often sell out before noon, they are that good.









We picked 10 pounds of apples with pies in mind, on a beautiful day, among the turning leaves.

Autumn Is Upon Us

Here is some proof...


Gourds and the tiniest pumpkin in my hand-crafted vintage batter bowl from the consignment shop in Somesville Harbor, ME


Fall foliage in Woodstock, NY

Le Fooding D'Amour: J'Adore Mostly

David Chang saucing pork

On Friday night, in Greenpoint's backyard (aka Long Island City), we went to the Le Fooding D'Amour Paris-New York event at P.S. 1. Hundreds of ticket-holders waited in line after line to sample delectable bites from three New York-based chefs and three Paris-based chefs, each at their own station, prepping on folding tables and cooking on grills. While it may not have been their very best work, being served pulled pork by David Chang, chicken necks by Wylie Dufresne, and fried corn with scallop butter by Sean Rembold from Diner was a thrill. (Check out David Chang's interview with Charlie Rose from last summer. We just happened to catch a rerun of it!) Oh, and the General Greene's Salted Hazelnut Gianduja ice cream was to die for. All proceeds went to Action Against Hunger.


The scene in P.S. 1's front yard


Barbecued sirloin steak by Christophe Pelé


Wylie Dufresne serving grilled chicken necks


Cute illustrations of all participating chefs projected on the walls


Fried corn on the cob with scallop butter, by far the best thing there


Sean Rembold's still life


Happy girl with ice cream

Are You Pouring on the Pounds?

I am so thrilled about the new ads from the New York City Department of Health and Mental Hygiene. Yay Bloomberg! Since the federal government subsidizes poor eating primarily by way of corn, with obsolete policies that are insanely unfair and extraordinarily greedy, it is exciting to see this question all over the city. For a great treatise on the issues surrounding food policy, read Michael Pollan's letter to Obama from last October in the New York Times Magazine.

On the subject of ads, the terms "local" and "farm fresh" and other similar phrases are being abused lately, usurped actually, stolen. In this vein, even McDonalds commercials feature stop-motion dancing vegetable montages to convince us that there are ingredients behind their food-like concoctions. It's scary. Do we have to legally define these terms so that corporations don't lie to their consumers? Because they can use the word "local" to describe basically anything from anywhere without repercussions. Where is the regulation? We have to be vigilant about our consumption in order to truly shop locally. Listen to THIS wonderful conversation with Patt Morrison on NPR's 89.3 about what local really means.

Optimistically, I hope, at least, that this trend makes people reconsider what they put in their bodies and where they spend their money, and that it doesn't just alter the way they are sold the same old mass-produced product.

Made in Greenpoint

Note Greenpoint cookie on platter above

On Saturday, the Greenpoint Food Market was born. In a church on Russell Street, a motley crew of picklers, bakers, soda, liver mousse, and soup-makers gathered to sell their goods. A Greenpoint beekeeper was selling honey with comb. And I had a refreshing homemade lime rickey on ice from Pumkin and Honeybunny. The highlight though was Sugarbuilt cookies. So intricate and beautiful and tasty too. This woman is an icing queen. The skulls are truly amazing but, of course, I bought that cute Greenpoint cookie!

Bring on the locally, sensibly, sensitively, creatively made food...


gorgeous!


how wonderful is this logo?

Angels Share

On Stuyvesant Street, hidden up a flight of stairs and through a brightly lit, bustling restaurant is the dimly lit and serene Angel's Share. Despite or maybe because of the fact that there are so many places to can go for a drink in the city, it is always hard to find the right spot. Lucky for me, there is this little bar where your ears won't suffer and people aren't packed in like sardines (they only seat parties of 4 or less). Overlooking 3rd Avenue, the window seat might be the best in the house, but facing the bar is also a treat with skilled bartenders shaking elaborate cocktails and painted angels overhead. Angel's Share is a welcome bit of respite and sophistication.