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Archive for June, 2010
Wednesday, June 30th, 2010
One of the best things about where I stay in the city is the convenient location since I tend to spend most of my time downtown (save for the trips to the Met and Central Park). This recent trip to the city was the first I’ve made during the summer in years and while walking from the East Village to TriBeCa in temps over 90 (to someone whose blood has thickened up living in Maine for the past nine years off and on this may has well have meant over 100) I could really have used one of those hand held oriental fans and a lighter larger bottle of water. Unfortunately, my coordination (or lack thereof), does not permit me to walk and eat a dripping ice cream cone. I actually cannot digest ice cream, but I do enjoy sorbet and frozen yogurt (less lactate than ice cream). Anyway, it all melts at about the same speed and causes the same sticky mess. Even a fast moving tongue and napkins are sometimes not enough. It is a skill you would think any child would learn (or be taught by his/her parents) after losing a frozen treat to the pavement. Adults don’t tend to scream (unless said item falls on a designer piece of clothing, then watch out), but children…Well fortunately I have a few more months this year to work on this skill. Always best to have the can do attitude right?
Photo by Nicole Hill.
Posted in Comfort Food, Thoughts | No Comments »
Wednesday, June 30th, 2010
This movie has a witty script, terrific cast, and Adam Sandler at his best.
Posted in Films | No Comments »
Tuesday, June 29th, 2010
One more reason to love NYC - the crazy art exhibits you find in the most unusual places. While purchasing a jar of Anarchy Jam at Chelsea Market I stumble across this brilliant/hilarious collection of photographs by David Mead. Check out these beard and mustache champions!
Posted in Photography, Travel | No Comments »
Tuesday, June 29th, 2010
Two of the best things in life: coffee + cake (in this case cupcake)…
Ninth Street Espresso
Vanilla Lemon Cupcake at Spot Dessert Bar
Posted in Baked Goods, Drink, Travel | No Comments »
Tuesday, June 29th, 2010
While in New York I am spending time with the folks from Coombs Maple Syrup. Arnold, Faith, Wendy, and Jean have allowed me to enter their maple fold at the Fancy Food Show for a couple hours yesterday and today. At their booth I am able to learn more about the business of maple syrup and as a bonus have a front row seat to some good people watching (everyone wears a color coded badge to signify their purpose attending - retailer, member of press, exhibitor…) which could be likened to when you were a child in the back seat of a car playing the license plate game. Name that badge! Anyway, I really enjoy the Coombs team and as someone who loves food and wants to know more about farming it is the place to be.
In March when I wrote about maple sugaring, I was in the early stage of my syrup education. My first maple season while representing Arnold Coombs, a seventh-generation Vermont sugarmaker (maple farmer), had just wrapped and the prospects for the golden goodness this season was dire according to a couple reports I heard from friends in Maine.
Wanting to know what is really going on I turned to Arnold and his annual maple crop report and industry analysis.
Arnold Coombs is the General Manager of Coombs Family Farms, current Chairman of the Vermont Maple Industry Council, and a former director of The Vermont Maple Sugar Makers Association and Vermont Maple board. He has one foot in the future and the other in the past. A champion of small family farming with deep roots in the maple industry, and an intricate knowledge of maple culture.
Here is what Arnold reported:
Following a banner crop like 2009, the 2010 crop had a tough act to follow. Once everything was sugared off though, it looks like Mother Nature cooperated and the 2010 crop will be enough to get us through to 2011.
The numbers below are estimates:
Quebec 90,000,000 lbs.
Rest of Canada 6,000,000 lbs.
United States 15,000,000 lbs
Carryover from 2009 16,000,000 lbs
With Worldwide demand of approximately 120,000,000 lbs, we should have an adequate supply.
The Southern producing regions had the lowest production. Southern New England, southern New York, Pennsylvania and Ohio were considerably below average. Some farmers 80 - 90% below. The primary reason being uncooperative weather. They just didn’t get the freezing nights followed by warm days. That said, this region is a small piece of the total industry’s production. The remaining producing areas did much better with average to slightly above average production.
Our own farm in Alstead, NH had an average year with nearly 250,000 lbs produced. This, from about 67,000 trees.
The technological improvements that we’ve had over the past 15 years, such as, improving the extraction of sap from trees has had a very positive impact. It’s not uncommon for a farmer to have doubled the production he may have had 20 years ago and with the same number of trees. This technology also helps in years like this when there isn’t a great difference of temperature from night to day. The 80 / 20 rule now applies to sugar makers in that 20% of the farmers produce 80% of the syrup. There are many farmers this year saying they had a bad crop but they tend to be on the low end of new technology use.
At our recent open house where farmers come to learn about new technologies, sell their syrup and talk maple, the discussion seemed to be about expansion and improvements. Farmers are seeing maple as a positive income source in a tough agricultural world. This bodes well for supply and the future growth of our industry.
Photo of Arnold Coombs by Jon Levitt.
Posted in Comfort Food, Local Flavors | No Comments »
Tuesday, June 29th, 2010
Just back from dinner at Babbo, Mario Batali’s West Village Italian restaurant. Frank Bruni’s assessment of the menu as simple, indulgent, and gutsy is spot on (note I loved Frank Bruni’s reviews just not his book). Downstairs is a bit of scene, upstairs more relaxed. A rock n’roll soundtrack plays loudly at times throughout the restaurant. There is a reason Gina DePalma won the James Beard Award for Outstanding Pastry Chef and why the restaurant is always packed.
Amuse-bouche
Chickpea Bruschetta
Antipasti
Marinated Fresh Sardines with Carmelized Fennel and Lobster Oil
Primi
Goat Cheese Tortelloni with Dried Orange and Wild Fennel Pollen (a signature dish)
Secondi
Barbecued Squab with Roasted Beet “Farrotto” and Porcini Mustard
Dolci
Chocolate Hazelnut Cake with Orange Sauce (I hated to do this, but had to skip the Hazelnut Gelato)
Posted in Travel | No Comments »
Monday, June 28th, 2010
Today I spent several hours wandering the halls of the Javits Center attending the Summer Fancy Food Show organized by the National Association for the Specialty Food Trade. In addition to running into an old friend and getting to spend time with some clients whose products I find pretty tasty, I was able to meet some of the people behind the edible products I enjoy so much. Similar to the natural food trade show I went to in Los Angeles a few months back, this event is attended by hundreds of food retailers, distributors, and exhibitors.
My favorites:
Fastachi (I carry a bag of their Super Nut Mix in my bag for protein on the go)
Theo Chocolate (their salted caramels are tasty and the sales manager was kind enough to invite me to their blogger conference in Seattle - um hello yes I would like to attend! oh and that factory tour yup sign me up for that too)
Tate’s Bake Shop (love their chocolate chip and macadamia nut cookies, oh and the packaging by Louise Fili!)
The French Farm (import delicious goods including salts, oils, and mustards from France)
Bella Cucina (I use their pestos to make homemade croutons, they also have the most beautiful presentation and packaging). Check out their fun blog!
Hancock Gourmet Lobster - owner Cal Hancock is one of the nicest people. Her grandmother owned a lobster restaurant in Ogunquit, Maine. When someone does me a big favor I thank them by sending Cal’s Downeast Lobster Rolls or Black Dinah Chocolatiers truffles. Anyone who reads this blog enough knows of my love for BDC truffles so the fact I would include Cal in the same sentence..well you get the idea. Authentic, locally sourced, the real deal and so tasty.
Guittard Chocolate - I bake with their chocolate chips. Tasted their green mint chips, pretty good but not sold in Maine.
Top image Louise Fili Ltd. Bottom image Hancock Gourmet Lobster
Posted in Baked Goods, Epicurean Events | No Comments »
Monday, June 28th, 2010
Airy halls and glass showcases of cold beautifully shaped marble sculptures, shiny ancient baubles, medieval metalwork and tapestries, and furniture from America’s past are the reasons I spend time at the Met nearly every visit to New York. Each time I walk the hallways of this grand museum I experience a form of time travel: Auguste Rodin’s Burghers of Calais sends me to Paris and the still life paintings have me as a little girl again visiting the Smithsonian with my father. Muted senses come alive. My pace slows, eyes widen, and I become a witness to the world’s great treasures. Right in front of you are items centuries old, you stand back and suddenly you are that close to someone who wore or sat in or sculpted that very thing you are looking at in 2010. This may sound obvious, but it makes me very happy.
A few special exhibitions and installations I recommend:
American Women: Fashioning a National Identity (closes August 15, 2010)
This is the first Costume Institute exhibition drawn from the newly established Brooklyn Museum Costume Collection at the Met. It explores developing perceptions of the modern American woman from 1890 to 1940 and how they have affected the way American women are seen today. Focusing on archetypes of American femininity through dress, the exhibition reveals how the American woman initiated style revolutions that mirrored her social, political, and sexual emancipation. “Gibson Girls,” “Bohemians,” and “Screen Sirens,” among others, helped lay the foundation for today’s American woman. **Go ahead and add “The Women” (the one starring Joan Crawford) and “Dinner at Eight” (Jean Harlow is sensational) to your Netflix queue. The latter film is one of my favorites.
Doug and Mike Starn on the Roof: Big Bambu (closes October 31, 2010)
The monumental bamboo structure, ultimately measuring 100 feet long, 50 feet wide, and 50 feet high, takes the form of a cresting wave that bridges realms of sculpture, architecture, and performance. **For this one arrive in pants and sneakers at the museum at 9:30 a.m. and sign up for a guided tour that will take you along elevated bamboo pathways within the sculpture (40 feet above the Roof Garden and up to 110 feet above Central Park).
Vienna Circa 1780: An Imperial Silver Service Rediscovered (closes November 7, 2010)
Wine coolers, tureens, cloches, candelabra, candlesticks, dozens of plates, porcelain-mounted cutlery, and other kinds of tableware, totaling more than three hundred items, represent the splendor of royal dining during the ancien régime. It was made for Duke Albert Casimir of Sachsen–Teschen (1738–1822) and his consort, Archduchess Marie Christine of Austria (1742–1798), daughter of Empress Maria Theresa, by the Imperial court goldsmith Ignaz Josef Würth. **The best part of this exhibit may be its location in the European Sculpture and Decorative Arts.
All images and portions of descriptions of exhibitions/installations by the Met.
Posted in Travel | 1 Comment »
Sunday, June 27th, 2010
It feels like I’m home. Back in NYC and checked in at my all time favorite hotel. Hope you dear readers are having a delicious weekend. xo
Posted in Travel | 1 Comment »
Thursday, June 24th, 2010
James Nachtwey’s B&W pictures are breathtaking regardless the subject matter. From hell and back he is the anti-war photographer who for a quarter of a century has been in the middle of just about every major conflict and center of devastation from Bosnia and the Philippines to Afghanistan and Haiti.
When asked how he maintains his faith in humanity in the face of inhumanity he responded:
The people I encounter when I’m in the field - that’s where my inspiration comes from. To see ordinary people coping with such disasters and such suffering, continuing to go on, surviving, trying to make a life, to maintain their family - it humbles me. I don’t know if I would have their strength and their grace and that inspires me. People deserve better than what they’re getting, and what they’re getting is quite often not necessary. It didn’t have to happen. It’s not the natural condition and something can be done about it. My faith in humanity comes from what I witness it.
“The Sacrifice”
Posted in Photography | No Comments »
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