box of sunshine from florida

This month for the first time I participated in Foodie Pen Pals, a sort of secret santa for food bloggers and food lovers across the country. Things like this are why I love The Internets. I sent off a box of treats to some stranger, specifically Emily aka Chatty Dabbler. I sent a box of picnic treats but you'll have to hop over to her blog for the details. 

[This lovely box of treats? Straight from a stranger in Florida.]

And then Christina from Bad Communication sent ME a box. Inside were: Publix brand "cheetos" which she claims are THE BEST, pink lemonade cake mix which demands being made into cupcakes, frosting that can be flavored, Fiber Plus bars (perfect for breaks at work- chocolate! almonds!), mint marshmellows*, and of course, a Florida orange! 


Plus in that plastic bag are "chocolate milk straws" with little balls of chocolate powder to flavor milk. I tried them out on Friday. I stirred and stirred and stirred but they didn't dissolve. Left them for 5 minutes and came back to a glass of milk with chocolate powder on top. I stirred it up and drank the slightly-chocolatey drink. I think Cornell Dairy spoiled me on chocolate milk that isn't pure decadence. 


*Christina included a sweet note in which she joked about summertime hot chocolate. I think she has no idea how perfect SF summers are for hot chocolate. I haven't done it yet, but sampled a few on their own and they were just slightly mint chocolate-y, great for hot chocolate. 

If you live in the US or Canada and are interested in being a Foodie Pen Pal, check it out here! Basically, you send a box of treats ($15 max) to someone, someone else sends you a box and the lovely  Lindsay of The Lean Green Bean does most of the coordinating. You sign up just a month at a time, so if you are tempted, just try it out! Details.

quick meals for when you are tired

 

I woke up early this morning to drive an out-of-town friend to the airport. She'd been visiting for the past few days, which I took off work and spent as a weekday long weekend. Afterwards, Partner-in-Crime and I finished moving to the new apartment and then I headed to work in the rain. Dinner tonight with our mostly-empty fridge seemed impossible until he reminded me of the casseroles I had in the freezer. Topped with panko and fresh grated cheddar cheese, dinner was exactly what I needed. Freezing food is something I'm always glad to have done for nights just like tonight.

What are your favorites to freeze or prepare in advance?

sharing the holiday spirit with blog swaps

I'm very excited to be participating in two internet swaps- a Holiday Gift Swap and the Great Food Bloggers Cookie Swap. You don't have to be a professional crafter or baker to participate so sign up!

The Holiday Gift Swap is open for sign ups through Friday, November 4th. You'll make five items to send out to five participants (on November 7) and you'll get five goodies to keep or give as holiday gifts. The goal is to simplify your holiday shopping while allowing you to give homemade artisan goods to your loved ones. The Great Cookie Swap is similar, but you send and receive three batches of a dozen cookies. Sign up by Friday, November 18 and send your cookies out by December 5th.

Which swap do you want to be part of?

made me smile: occupy oakland and free pears

These pears were found yesterday in a box by the sidewalk- gifted, as my friend Anna would say, by the universe. A friend for many years through organizing, Anna is currently in town and was the perfect companion to participate in Occupy Oakland with me. After a day of participating, I returned home to the pears calling for attention. I reflected on the day's action with Partner-in-Crime over preparing a pear crumble. Cooking with free pears, willingly given from someone who had more than they needed or even desired, felt appropriate as a small part of what the Occupy actions are working to create.

All in all, a series of smiles. A found box of pears. A friend in town. Democracy in action. Preparing good food with a loved one.

Recipe: Harvest Pear Crisp with Candied Ginger from Bon Appétit.

blog action day: food

This is a special Blog Action Day post. Blog Action Day is an annual event that focuses on a differentopic each year and this year it overlaps with World Food Day so the topic is food. If you have ever read my blog before, you know food is an issue I care about passionately. Typically, my posts have involved the joys of preparing and eating food, but I am privileged to have access to the bounty of food currently available to me.

8.4% of Americans live in a food desert, as classified by the US Department of Agriculture. According to their classification, "if 500 people and/or 33 percent of a particular tract's population lived more than 1 mile from the nearest grocery store (or, for rural tracts, 10 miles), and the local poverty rate was significant, then the tract was designated a food desert" [source.]

A food desert doesn't mean there isn't any food available. In urban neighborhoods, there are often bodegas or corner stores that sell packaged goods but often don't stock perishable fruits and vegetables. In rural areas, someone may live surrounded by farms that grow food but the food is monocultured and shipped to processing plants or markets far away.

Here in San Francisco, there is a "fairly large food desert located in the Bayview, Hunters Point and Visitacion Valley neighborhoods – some of the poorest in San Francisco. In San Francisco, a staggering 150,000 people, 20% of the city’s population forsakes buying food in order to pay their bills... Other Bay Area food deserts include neighborhoods in Oakland and Richmond" [source.]

What can be done about food deserts and how do designers play a role? As designers, we learn to look at problems systematically. We have created a complex system for growing and distributing food and ending food deserts involves changing both how we grow and how we distribute food. Most of all, we need to change what we value about food. Do we value that there is food or do we value what food is there? I believe every person should have access to healthy and affordable food. Changes will have to come from political and economic forces, but we, as designers, have a huge role in showing the potential good to come and in creating the new systems themselves.

I recently wrote about the Via Verde apartments where the designers responded to the community's request for a healthy place to live by including, among other initiatives, community garden space. Here are three additional examples of how designers are creating change in our food systems.

 

[Rural NC Farmers Market created by local high school design-build class] 

[Cornell Design and Environmental Analysis students help classmates be able to prepare meals from fresh foods]

[Stockbox Grocers is a miniature market that brings healthy food to urban food deserts within the existing infrastructure.]

Sources:
Do You Live in a "Food Desert?"
America's Worst 9 Urban Food Deserts

dim sum do's and don't

[Street decoration in Oakland's Chinatown]

As I've said before, I'm not much of a breakfast person (unless it is in art form.) Sure, I like hashbrowns since they are made of potatoes and I never say no to bacon, but eggs just don't do anything for me. If I'm headed out for my first meal of the day, I'm already thinking of lunch foods. It is no surprise then that I love dim sum brunches.

Partner-in-Crime and I have gone several times recently and this weekend I took a few pictures to share and thought I'd share the do's and don'ts of dim sum as I have learned them.

Do: Go with a group
Dim sum is a social meal and most of the tables are large round ones. Go with a group of four to eight is a great size.

Don't: Order individually 
This is why you want a crowd. Dim sum is meant to be eaten family style. Order dishes for the table. Each dish often has 3-6 small treats, such as dumplings. The server often snips larger items in half with scissors for sharing. Order 1-3 dishes from one cart and then see what the next cart brings. Even without a central ordering plan, if you order slowly you won't get too much on the table and you'll be able to sample many dishes.

[The sticky rice to the left is a favorite of mine.]

Do: Enjoy yourself slowly
Dim sum is the best kind of slow meal. As soon as you are seated, you can start ordering and your food is on the table immediately. But you also get to order slowly and can always decide to get more. We're often at dim sum between 1-2 hours.

[Basically Chinese doughnuts]

Don't: Be scared to try new things
Growing up I was a bit of a picky eater. I've found the best way to start liking foods you thought you didn't was to try them prepared a completely new way. I was leery of these coconut desserts because I'm not a fan of coconut pie, but instead they reminded me a sweet coconut milk and had a very milk taste. Delicious!

[So glad I tried these]

Do: Tip
You'll have a waiter (often in a vest) who brings you more tea, water (if you request it), and who will clear plates that are empty. Do tip. 

During your meal, you'll have a ticket like this one on your table. The servers will stamp a code for the dishes you bought (and that they sold it) so it's hard to keep track of how much exactly you are spending. Luckily, it's typically very reasonable. Our bill this weekend was just $12 each with tip. 

Do: Take some home!
After our meal, we went to stores in Chinatown that sell dim sum and barbecue to go and purchased our dinner. 

fall foods to look forward to

Fall is truly here, no matter how much I push against it. Luckily job prospects are looking up and I have craft shows on the horizon, so I've decided to just let it come. Today was rainy and the weather reports promise more for the next few days. I poked around the fridge, and yet again, we skipped grocery shopping this weekend so I'm just putting together a list now.

The rain has me craving comfort food. I considered mac and cheese for tonight, or roast potatoes with bacon. In the end, Partner-in-Crime called and convinced me we should go out for Indian where I no doubt will get a curry with potatoes. But while I'm happy to eat pasta and potatoes for weeks, I know I should eat better and Partner-in-Crime doesn't have the same affinity for carbs that I do.

What are you favorite fall foods that aren't carb heavy? I'm looking forward to making a big bot of chili and other soups. I'm searching for a great recipe for carne en su jugo, a dish I had Sunday for the first time. But I know I'll still be making plenty of bolognese, mashed potatoes (with roast chicken!) and risotto all fall. What less-carb heavy dishes should I had to the rotation?

And now that we've talked about dinner, what are the desserts you plan to make? I know I'm making Elevator Lady Cookies as soon as I get some shortening.

street food

Street food is one of those "hot" foodie trends. The New York Times loves covering food trucks and the race for the best cheeseburger or pizza or tacos. But the Bay Area may have elevated the street food game to a new level. Here for only one week I have attended not one, but two, food truck and street food events. The first, Off the Grid, is a mobile food truck event in a different part of the city each week including North Berkeley on Wednesday evenings. The second was the La Cocina Street Food Festival. La Cocina is an incubator for food based entrepreneurs and they hosted the festival to show the talents of their startups and of restaurants from the Bay Area and beyond, along with entertainment. Here are snapshots from both.

Off the Grid:

[My sandwich: cornflake crusted fried chicken; Partner-in-Crime's: brisket]

[Salted caramel cupcake from Cupcakes]

La Cocina Street Food Festival:

update from the road: new york bbq

[fette sau bbq in brooklyn]


[ordering by the pound.]

[split with a friend, though on a good night I could eat it all.]

[whiskey at the bar and beer sold by the gallon.]

lemaire

[Manhattan, on the rocks. Bellini with glass swizzle stick]

Sometimes I am very spoiled. Lemaire, which I wrote about recently, has a wonderful happy hour where their expertly prepared classic cocktails are only $5. Yesterday I joined two friends for happy hours where I enjoyed a manhattan while they sipped bellinis and Pimms Cups. We had several amazing appetizers that I do not believe are listed on the menu. Whatever comes with grits though- order it. And I will dream of this risotto.

[Fettuccine wrapped prawn with corn grits and coke barbecue sauce]

[Parmesan risotto with balsamic roasted figs and preserved meyer lemon coulis]

for cod and country

Barton Seaver's For Cod and Country makes cooking seafood easier to do sustainably. Seaver, Chef at Hook in DC, Seaver is a "firm believer in eating lower on the food chain than we do now, Seaver eschews large predatory species like bluefin tuna and sharks. His recipes stress fish like anchovies, herring, catfish, mahi-mahi, and mackerel, used in ways that are anything but mundane: a Mackerel Melt with smoked canned mackerel in place of tuna; braised greens with anchovy purée; Pacific cod with ginger braised asparagus; sardine and capered egg salad sandwiches." I'm not a big seafood eater so won't invest in this book, but I love the concept.

Speaking of the Northeast, a college friend has recently started a blog Rebecca Eats Rhode Island, where she documents trips to area restaurants and creations she make with seasonal and local ingredients. Check it out, I'm going to try to kale soup soon.

Originally found in and image from The Atlantic.

gilt taste launches

Today GiltGroupe which started as a flash sale site (remember the romper I bought?) launched GiltTaste, a food and kitchen supply site. Unlike Gilt.com, the merchandise is not quick-sale marked down but instead the goal is offer high quality items with a bit of backstory. I won't be ordering the Wagyu beef anytime soon (read: ever) though I may have had some of this at Christmas thanks to my uncle. What I was surprised to find was a well-designed site with delicious recipes featuring seasonal produce and magazine quality stories.

While you have to be a member to purchase items, you can peruse the virtual aisles and read the the Stories section without registering. Current stories even include an article on hydrofracking's effects on the food we eat. I'm not the only one impressed. TheKitchn is excited about Editorial Advisory Ruth Reichel, saying "Reichl has assembled a team of some of the most talented people in the food journalism world to contribute to this "new kind of magazine."

holiday potluck

When I moved in with my current roommates, they informed me they do an annual Thanksgiving Dinner for friends the week before Thanksgiving. We didn't get to it in time this year, so instead had a general Holiday Potluck. We decorated with Christmas lights, Hannukah lights and random orange lights. Not the most cohesive but the important thing was that we cooked- and ate- well.

[Our turkey, stuffed with carrots and onion]

To continue wrapping all the winter time holidays together, my roommate Julia made latkes using a recipe from her Dad (aka the one from Epicurious or that you get if you google latke recipe.) It is very good. We made far too many but they were all eaten.

[This is what 5 pounds of potatoes looks like once it's been shredded. Check out the sweet cupcakes in the background to celebrate of the UofR women's rugby team.]

My house supplied the turkey and asked everyone to bring side dishes. Not content to sit on the sidelines, I decided to make appetizers. Originally planning on keeping it simple, I made Sage and Brown Butter Cashews and bought brie and fruit. I decided to turn the berries into a Blackberry and Raspberry Compote, making up the recipe as I went. I've posted what I did below.

[Sage and Brown Butter Cashews]

A highlight was the candied bacon, which was a last minute addition. TheKitchn wrote that not eating it all immediately would be very tough. This proved true as the first batch was consumed while half the party guests were out picking up the last few items on the list. Lesson learned: thin center cut bacon is better than thick but cook it on a drying rack or something that drains. Coat heavily with brown sugar.

[Candied bacon]

Blackberry Raspberry Compote
1.5 cups blackberries
1 cup raspberries
2 tablespoons honey
1/3 of a lemon (eyeballed)

Put in a sauce pan and heat on low-medium heat. Mash the berries up a bit and once there is a decent amount of juice in the pan, bring to a low boil. Let simmer 10-15 minutes. Pour over brie.

[Super bad picture. Super yummy brie.]

i'm not a breakfast person

When at brunch, I always choose the "-unch" options, not the "br-" options. That said, there's something about Oliver Schwarzwald's interpretation of breakfast that I fancy.


Can you guess where these breakfasts are from?
(From top: United States, Russia, France)

See more at http://www.oliverschwarzwald.de/