I’m off for a few days at the beach. Be back next week with yummy chocolate chip cookie recipes from a James Beard nominated Pastry Chef, King Arthur Flour’s blogger, and some very talented friends.
In the meantime, posting these lovely photos of time at the shore. Enjoy the rest of your week!
Slow Food is everything fast food is not. A movement founded in 1986 by Carlo Petrini in a small town in Italy, Slow Food is about eating locally and being connected to your food rather than industrializing it. In my pursuit of organic and local edible goodness I became a member of Slow Food USA and subsequently aware of the goings on of the Boston chapter (there are chapters nationwide). Thanks to a small, but very hard working crew of people who make up the events committee there are social activities, educational initiatives and fundraising events for people who want to know more about where their food comes from and take pleasure in preparing and eating it. Recently they announced two additions to their ongoing preservations series I will be attending part of and thought well worth sharing.
08/09 3:00 p.m. - Preserving the Harvest - Freeze & Dry @ Haley House Cafe in Roxbury $40
Hands-on three hour class about how to freeze locally sourced produce offering the possibility of eating local food year-round. Learn a few tricks about ways to use the produce in its frozen and thawed states.
08/23 3:00 p.m. - Preserving the Harvest - Tomatoes @ Haley House Cafe in Roxbury $45
Jen Hashley, the Director of the New Entry Sustainable Farming Project, will teach a three-hour combination lecture and hands-on workshop about a number of ways to save tomatoes for later. Necessary supplies (including locally grown tomatoes) provided. Leave with a few jars of yummy sauces to add to dinner this winter.
Register for classes at the Slow Food Boston events site.
Took my own advice and went for a day trip to the North Shore today. My friend James arranged for us to go kayaking (my first time) with North Shore Kayaks out of Rockport, MA. We paddled for about two hours around Rockport Harbor with calm seas and blue sky. Apart from my initial frustration with paddling (I had my hands too far apart and was not dipping into the water deep enough) I had a really good time. **Sunscreen is key for this activity if you wear (like I did) a tank top. I recommend RHEAL’s 30 SPF, because it is not oily and smells nice.
Oink oink happy piggie
Afterwards we drove through Essex and Ipswich in search of sustenance. We found some fresh baked goods at the Green Meadows Farm roadside stand in Hamilton, MA and I had the opportunity to do something I find great joy in - feeding pigs. **The stand (really more of a very small market) has a small, but fairly thorough, agriculture and food book section. I picked up Farmer John’s Cookbook for the vegetable storage section and seasonal recipes. Next Tuesday when I pick up my CSA I’ll be set to make Kohlrabi n’ Carrot Slaw.
A perfect wrap up to the day brought us front and center for a demonstration on butchering lamb at The Butcher Shop in Boston. As a vegetarian (I do eat seafood) I find it more an art form than an opportunity to learn techniques I’ll practice. The Butcher Shop is a wine bar and full-service butcher shop serving lunch and dinner daily. Like everything else chef/owner Barbara Lynch does it is sophisticated and sustainable minded. My ratatouille with an olive sauce and fried onions was delicious.
I try not to check baggage when I travel, especially if my journey involves multiple stages. Accommodating only the essentials, my abbreviated strategy involves a 21″ rollaway Samsonite and Grivel Mont Blanc backpack (it serves double duty if my trip includes hiking and/or climbing). The night before my departure I spread everything I’m thinking about taking on my bed, get out pen and paper and start a list of optional outfits. In trying to master the art of packing the first things that come to mind are less stuff means greater mobility (lugging around excess luggage is not flattering) and the clothing I bring should be able to be worn a number of ways and in a number of imagined scenarios. Items I always travel with are a black scarf that can double as a sarong, big shades to block the sun and the bags under my eyes, and a couple scents by Frederic Malle (I load up on sample sizes when purchasing my perfume). Inevitably I always end up in need of more wrinkle-proof items, annoyed some pieces are so bulky and wishing I’d invested in more cardigans or a nice trench coat (I get cold easily).
interior Passport
Recently, after a lunch spent discussing upcoming travel plans, my friend Wendy introduced me to one of her favorite travel resources the Harvard Square boutique Passport, specializing in chic travel clothing and accessories. I immediately understood why she would choose to shop there. The shop’s owner Jessica Good, an international traveler in her own right, has a keen eye for versatile, easy to wear contemporary clothing that practically ensures her clientele will arrive and travel in style. The shop’s clothing lines have been chosen for their chic cuts, flexible fabrics and packable styles, including jersey dresses, stretch bottoms and knit tops. She even carries vegan-friendly bags.
Following are a few of Jessica’s packing/travel tips I adhere to.
Always throw a small expandable bag in your luggage. You never know when you’ll need it and it can hold some of those extra items you buy on your trip home.
Always “break in” new shoes before traveling with them. But just in case carry a back-up in your purse. Flats are a good option.
You would never take your shoes off at the end of the day and put them on a stack of freshly washed clothes, right? Why do it when you pack? Put shoes in drawstring bags to keep your clothes clean and to protect your shoes from scuffing. Plus the bag can double as a laundry bag on your return trip.
One of Jessica’s musts I think I’ll try the next time I fly is bringing a travel pillow in a carryon bag that can double as a purse, beach bag or whatever I’ll need that trip.
Celebrity Cruises has a packing section. My guess is a good reference site regardless of the cruise line you book with.
LuggagePoint.com provides a list of airlines with their luggage restrictions.
Jessica prefers The Wallpaper and Luxe city guides, which are small enough to pack, and the less traditional Eat Shop guides. She finds these guides often highlight some of the smaller clothing boutiques and restaurants in major cities that some guide books miss. The Globe Corner Bookstore is an amazing resource for planning any trip, with a location in Harvard Square conveniently near Passport.
During the month of August Passport will offer select merchandise at 30 - 50% off. I’ll see you there!
Curt Ellis and Ian Cheney’s film KING CORN, released theatrically in 2007, is one of the first feature length documentaries to deconstruct the problems with this country’s industrial food production. The film provides the audience with the story of how this very widely grown grain has permeated our supermarket shelves and subsequently (due to mass consumption) our physical being. Cheney and Ellis, best friends from college on the east coast, move to a small town in Iowa and attempt to farm a single acre of corn in an effort to learn where their food comes from. Transcending the usually serious mood of documentaries these two charismatic individuals made me smile while impressing upon me the troubling issues of commercial farming and the American diet.
Ian (left) and Curt (right) taste their corn in Iowa
I talked to Curt Ellis about the film, what he and Ian are up to, and what is next. Following is our dialogue.
SK: Do you have any projects in the works?
CE: Yes! We’re all busy. Aaron (behind the camera as producer/director) is directing a documentary about infrastructure for PBS. Ian and I are releasing our new documentary about green building and finishing a short KING CORN follow-up film, BIG RIVER, that will launch this fall.
SK: Have you or Ian done any farming since KING CORN was released?
CE: This spring Ian and I started Truck Farm, a funny little project that involved turning the old pickup we used in KING CORN…into a garden. We now have a 12-member CSA that delivers tiny amounts of extremely local produce to its members. Aaron’s also stayed involved in food and agriculture: he founded a sustainable grocery called Urban Rustic in Brooklyn, and is connecting people in the city to regional produce and local, artisanal packaged goods.
SK: Where do you obtain a bulk of the food you consume?
CE: We eat out of the Truck Farm, of course, and shop at farmers’ markets or local-food stores like Aaron’s Urban Rustic for much of the rest of our food.
SK: Do you drink less soda since making the film?
CE: Oh yes. Hardly any. And we eat grass-fed beef, too.
SK: Do you feel the 2008 Food, Conservation, and Energy Act improved at all on the one in 2007?
CE: If memory serves, those were just different versions of the big project that happens only once every five years: reauthorization of the Farm Bill. The latest iteration of the Farm Bill brought some important improvements: funding for beginning farmers and increased support for sustainable agriculture and conservation, for instance. But the big change that needs to happen - replacing the subsidies that reward all-out production of just a few commodities with support for growing healthy food and minimizing environmental impacts - that still hasn’t happened.
Here is a spoof off of You Tube of the Corn Refiners “Sweet Surprise” campaign Curt wanted me to share.
I can almost always rationalize taking time to get away, but it is finding an opening in my schedule and not breaking the bank while I do it. Here in lies day tripping. The essential very quick, but ideally relaxing/recharging getaway.
Here are a few ways to get out of town and satisfy some of those adventure cravings you’ve been having. A few I’ve tried and some I am planning on doing.
Mt. Lafayette
Head to the White Mountains of New Hampshire and hike Mount Lafayette (summit is around 4,000 feet). Approximately five hours round-trip in the car, depending on your ability five to six hours on the mountain. Friends have instructed me to take the Old Bridle Path (easiest) or Greenleaf Trail, which intersect at the summit. The Appalachian Mountain Club maintains a hut at the summit from mid-May to mid-October offering meals and accommodations. I’ve heard the food is pretty good. VERY IMPORTANT! Check the weather before you go, speaking from experience, conditions can change very rapidly on a mountain. Stick to the trail! Wear appropriate shoes, bring out whatever you take in, and make sure to keep hydrated. Park at Lafayette Place Campground.
Sleep in, savor your morning in bed, and around lunch time hit the road to Williamtown, MA (about three hours from Boston) for some dynamic food and art. The Berkshires is an oasis for cultural enthusiasts with galleries, MASS MoCA (the largest center for contemporary arts in the U.S.), and the Norman Rockwell Museum. After you’ve exhausted your creative appetite head over to Mezze Bistro and Bar for some high standard fare. The owners of the former home of Chef James Tracey (he returned to Manhattan in 2007 and is now head chef at CRAFT) are known for their commitment to sourcing ingredients locally.
The Mount
For the bookworm at heart why not a literary road trip. Visit The Mount, Edith Wharton’s Estate and Gardens in Lenox, MA. about two hours west of Boston. Admission is $16 per adult. Wharton designed and built The Mount in 1902, based on principles of her book, The Decoration of Houses (1897). The classic revival house is surrounded by an Italian walled garden, formal flower garden, rock garden, lime walk and grass terraces.
Paddle the coast of Cape Ann with North Shore Kayak out of Rockport, MA for two to three hours. All tours include instruction, guides, touring kayak, personal floatation device, paddle, and spray skirt. Cost is $40.00. My choice for a meal after your mini adventure is Passports at 110 Main Street in Gloucester. An absolute must if you head to Gloucester, a cup of freshly brewed coffee or a latte from the Lone Gull Coffee House.
I took advantage of the weather this past Saturday with a no-fuss deck party attended by a few of my former classmates from the baking series we completed at the Cambridge School of Culinary Arts. Everyone brought their favorite homemade dessert. Ariella, our instructor, brought a light and delicious fruit tart with lemon custard.
At this intimate gathering I offered sun tea, lemonade, filtered tap water and goat cheese paired with slices of pear, french bread and olives. The focus was on dessert, but having a few savory nibbles seemed like a good idea.
As my primary contribution I made Babbo Pastry Chef Gina DePalma’s Citrus-Glazed Polenta Cake, which I am happy to write was enjoyed by all.
Citrus-Glazed Polenta Cake
1 1/2 cups plus 1 Tbsp unbleached all-purpose flour, plus more for dusting the pan
1 each lemon, lime, and orange
3/4 cup instant or fine polenta
2 tsp baking powder
1 tsp kosher salt
4 large eggs
1 cup granulated sugar
3/4 cup extra-virgin olive oil
2 cups confectioners’ sugar, plus more for dusting (optional)
Preheat the oven to 325F and position a rack in the center. Lightly grease a 9-inch springform pan with butter or nonstick cooking spray, dust the pan with flour, and tap to knock out the excess. Grate the zest from the lemon, lime, and orange, setting the zests aside for the cake batter and reserving the fruit for the glaze.
In a medium bowl, whisk together the flour, polenta, baking powder, and salt and set aside. In the bowl of an electric mixer fitted with the whisk attachment, beat the eggs and granulated sugar together on medium-high speed until they are pale yellow and have tripled in volume, 3 to 4 minutes. Beat in the reserved citrus zests.
Alternate adding the dry ingredients and the olive oil to the egg mixture; begin with one third of the dry ingredients, then add half the oil, followed by another third of the dry ingredients, beating only until each addition is incorporated. Stop the mixer and briefly scrape down the sides of the bowl. Beat in the remaining olive oil, followed by the last third of the dry ingredients.
Pour the batter into the prepared pan and smooth the top with a spatula. Bake the cake for 25 to 30 minutes, rotating it 180 degrees halfway through the baking time to ensure even browning. The cake is done when it springs back lightly when touched and pulls away from the sides of the pan, and when a cake tester inserted in the center comes out clean. Cool the cake in the pan on a rack for 12 to 15 minutes, then carefully remove the sides of the pan and allow the cake to cool completely.
While the cake is cooling, make the glaze: Sift 2 cups confectioners’ sugar into a large bowl. Squeeze 1 Tbsp of juice from each of the reserved citrus fruits. Add the citrus juices to the bowl and whisk until smooth. If the glaze seems too thick, add a few drops of water until it falls easily from a spoon. Drizzle the glaze over the cooled cake and allow it to set until it is completely dry.
Carefully remove the bottom of the springform pan with an offset spatula and transfer the cake to a serving plate. If desired, dust the cake with additional confectioners’ sugar before serving. Any leftover cake may be wrapped in plastic and served the following day.
Citrus-Glazed Polenta Cake (recipe by Gina DePalma)
For more recipes by Gina DePalma visit the Babbo Ristorante site. A great resource for anyone interested in Italy and Italian food!
Last night I helped organize the Midsummer Party for The Contemporaries, a membership group of the Portland Museum of Art between the ages of 30 and 50 who host and attend hip social events that foster greater appreciation of the museum and city’s cultural scene. The party allowed attendees the opportunity to view the Call of the Coast show featuring works by artists active in New England art colonies in the early 20th century including Robert Henri, Edward Hopper, Rockwell Kent and George Bellows
As a former member of the Contemporaries, the publicist for the Midcoast Chamber Council and an advocate for sustainability I was thrilled to have the good fortune to recruit chefs and producers from the Midcoast Region of Maine (Bath/Brunswick up along the coast to Searsport) to provide the food and drink for the (now) annual event.
Maine is fortunate to have such a remarkable art museum and a state with an active community to support it. A community committed to local resources, preserving traditions and celebrating food, land and agriculture. In the Midcoast and Portland one has access to farmers, fishermen, cheese makers and vintners. Edible gems are about in neighborhood restaurants, bakeries and markets that source fresh, sustainable, organic foods.
Under a blue sky (thunderstorms had been forecasted) in the museum’s garden 250 people celebrated great art and the relationship between the people who produce the food we consume and the places where it is grown.
If you have spent much time in Maine you know Portland is chocked full of a sea of great restaurants and bakeries. While perhaps best known for pots of boiling sea water and red crustaceans, the state’s Midcoast and Southern Regions have attracted a cache of talented young chefs whose inventive concoctions and preference for sourcing high-quality locally produced ingredients has gained them national recognition.
Happy gal with SBC coffee
Chef and restauranteur Sam Hayward is at the front of those transforming Portland’s culinary scene. Scattered about town are his James Beard award-winning restaurant Fore Street, The Standard Baking Company (my go to place for coffee and a chocolate croissant), Street and Company (fine dining, fresh seafood) and Two Fat Cats Bakery (if the name alone does not lure you in let me promise you one cupcake and you’ll be a lifer).
Another of Portland’s best know chefs is Rob Evans of Hugo’s and DuckFat. Most recently Evans, chef and owner of Hugo’s, won the James Beard award for Best Chef in the Northeast. I’ve experienced Hugo’s, a serious restaurant with stimulating food, but DuckFat has my heart. How to explain why this is the most satisfying culinary experience. Let’s move past the delicious Panini options and Beignets (fresh doughnut holes with a choice of toppings including powdered sugar and spicy chocolate) to the Belgian Fries. I don’t eat potato chips or drink soda, but homemade fries I cannot get enough of and especially not here. With so many dipping sauces on the menu one almost feels an obligation to try them all, heaven forbid one should feel left out. So it is with pride and a sense of obligation I sample the Truffle Ketchup, Garlic Aioli, Raye’s Sweet & Sour Mustard, Thai Chili Mayo, and Curry Mayo.
Hop to it! Volunteers are needed to help make it happen at this Saturday’s ArtBeat Festival in Davis Square. It is a fun way to enjoy the event, a great way to meet people, and hey for a few hours of your time you even get a crew t-shirt (I’ve seen them, they are really cool).
Continuing two decades of tradition, Mayor Joseph A. Curtatone and the Somerville Arts Council (SAC) will bring together artists, musicians, craft vendors and festival goers to Davis Square, transforming it into one of the area’s largest and most innovative festivals.
Here are a few shifts/jobs SAC definitely needs help with on Saturday, July 18 (rain date Sunday, July 19 same times).
8:00 - 11:00 am. Set up. Just two hours of your time will help enormously!
2:30 - 6:00 pm: stroll around the festival and sell nifty artbeat dog tags for $3
Various afternoon shifts: sit behind SAC table and sell t-shirts, answer questions OR help with children’s activities (create a Somerville time capsule or wind-powered contraptions).
5:30 - 7:00 pm: Break-down.
If you can help out, please contact SAC intern Daisy at: office@somervilleartscouncil.
She will clarify times, tasks and all logistical details.
If you have dependable friends, ask them to help out too!
The Somerville Arts Council (SAC) is the local cultural council for the City of Somerville, MA. SAC provides unique cultural events, enhancing public awareness and participation and encouraging community partnerships. They award grants to support schools, artists, organizations and special projects in Somerville, MA.
One of the acts I’m really looking forward to is the Dirty Truckers, a rock band with a touch of country. 4:00 pm behind the Somerville Theatre.
