My Peanut Sauce or, Best Quick Dinner Ever

1. Scoop some chunky peanut butter (about a tablespoon) out of a jar. Plop the PB in a bowl.

2. Pour about two tablespoons’ worth of your favorite orangey/gingerey type salad dressing (I use Price Chopper’s Central Market brand Mandarin Ginger Vinaigrette – has just 2 1/2 grams of fat per serving!) atop the peanut butter.

3. Microwave for about 20 seconds (or less; my microwave is unusually small and old.)

4. Stir together the peanut butter and dressing until they combine. Add more salad dressing until you reach the consistency that works best with whatever food you’re using it on. I usually mix the dressing with freshly cooked (i.e. still warm) noodles: I used to always use soba noodles but recently discovered that you can get much the same effect with – drumroll, please – Great Value* whole wheat thin spaghetti.

*for the uninitiated, Great Value is the Walmart store brand. Holla!

Savor Providence 2010

After skipping last year’s edition because of torrential rain, I was super excited to return to this year’s Savor Providence, a fundraiser for the fabulous Trinity Rep theatre company. (You may recall my attending 2008’s inaugural event.)

The day started off right with Rhode Island wine and cheese – Sakonnet Vineyards and Narragansett Creamery – in the theater’s lobby. Great stuff! I’ve been aware of Sakonnet wine for years, if not decades. I knew of it when I was a kid (my dad being a bit of a consumer of localish wines) and moreso during my R.I. college days when a few times we enjoyed their Eye of the Storm wine (when we were feeling upscale we’d browse the wines at Haxton’s instead of heading straight to the Natty Ice!) whilst reminiscing about Hurricane Gloria, as New England kids our age tend to do. (It was, aside from the Blizzard of ’78 which for most of us was just an opportunity for our toddler selves to be posed next to snow piles, the main weather memory of everyone’s youth. I doubt you want to hear the story of how school was cancelled that day and I was pissed because it was supposed to be my first day of clarinet lessons and I really needed that first day of lessons in order to figure out how to put the darned thing together. Also, one of our apple trees fell down.)

Anyhoo, they had much tastier wines than that one at Savor Providence. I tried two: the “Petite White NV,” a vidal blanc/gewürztraminer blend which actually had detectable levels of the “white grapefruit flavors” the tasting sheet touted; and the 2007 No Oak Chardonnay, which was delicious. I haven’t had a lot of unoaked chardonnays but really enjoy them every time I do.

And I cannot say ENOUGH about the Narragansett Creamery cheese. Their Atwell’s Gold was fantastic, as was the Salty Sea Feta. (UPDATE: Bought a nice slab of Atwell’s Gold at Sandy’s in Westerly in September! Love it!)

This year’s restaurant list was different than the first year’s, which turned out to be a good thing because otherwise we probably would have just returned to some of the same places that we knew were fabulous – we’re still talking about the mac and cheese at Al Forno – instead of trying new ones. And the addition of cooking demo tents was really nice, even though we only made it to one session.

Here’s a rundown of the highlights:
Aspire, 311 Westminster St.: “Unagi shrimp with wakame salad & toasted sesame; spiced nori encrusted scallop with grilled watermelon.” OMG. LOVE. Why am I not encrusting and grilling more things at home?

Café Noir, 125 N. Main St. They offered steak frites and a “goat cheese tart with sexy greens.” Sexy greens! Say no more. (They actually looked like ordinary greens to me but if you’re gonna stick tiny flowers in ’em and call them “sexy greens” I’m game.) And I’ve certainly never met a goat cheese tart I didn’t like.

Trinity Brewhouse, 186 Fountain St.: We started off here for lunch with the lobster mac and cheese, which I enjoyed with the suggested pint of Rhode Island IPA. Then at the end of the day we finished things off with dessert of “stout brownie sundaes.” Tasty! And a trip to Trinity is not complete without me reminding people that this is where we went for my 21st birthday. It was always my favorite bar in Providence. Still is now that I know they make brownies out of beer.

OK, this isn't a food highlight, but was super excited to learn that as Savor attendees we were entitled to 10 percent off at Craftland. I love love love Craftland. Go! Visit their website! Become a fan of them on Facebook!

Finally, new this year, I tweeted the event. (I know! I just used “tweeted” as a verb!) At one restaurant we were sitting next to someone checking people’s tweets to see what others were saying about the day. (I later figured out it was the ProJo’s food editor; I’ve still got my reporting chops!) So I logged on to Twitter using my mobile phone (for like, the first time ever, I might add) and unleashed one weak tweet about where we went and where we were going next. (I also spelled a word wrong and forgot to add the appropriate hashtag.) My bad. Next year I promise to tweet the event properly.

No Two Wheys About It

Curds!

Whey!

Queso fresco!!

“My Name Is Erin, and I Am a Home Cheesemaker.”

Best daughter ever? I just might be.

I decided recently that, instead of giving people presents of items they don’t need, I’d prefer to give people gifts of “experiences.” So for my father’s birthday, I presented him with plans for the two of us to spend a day at the New England Cheesemaking Supply Company’s Cheesemaking 101 workshop.

Located in Ashfield, Mass., the company is housed in the adorable old home of its proprietress, Ricki Carroll, the Cheese Queen. (If you’ve read Barbara Kingsolver’s Animal, Vegetable, Miracle, you may remember the family visited here when they went north. If you haven’t read Barbara Kingsolver’s Animal, Vegetable, Miracle, I urge you to. it was great, dare I say, life-changing. In fact, that’s how I heard about it myself: from the book.)

I’m not going to bore you too much with the details right now (because one thing I’ve learned since attending the workshop is that, like sausagemaking and lawmaking, most people also don’t want to know the details of cheesemaking) but suffice it to say it was awesome. Plus, as I mentioned above, better writers than I have described the workshop already.

Long story short: We made cheese. A LOT of cheese. And ate a lot of cheese. And bought things with which to make cheese (and yogurt!). And met other people who enjoy cheese. A fantastic day was had by all.

Stay tuned, however, as I will surely bore you with more stories about cheese (and yogurt!) in the future.

[This is me and my dad with the cheese our table (above left) made together. Pretty much everyone at our table posed for a photo with the cheese. My kind of people! My face is a little swollen still because I had my wisdom teeth out earlier that week.]

Cupcake kebabs

Cupcake kebabs? Cupcake kebabs.

Beets!

I am so proud of my beets. Sure, they took quite a beating from our wet, wet summer. Lost a few good ones in the rains. Planted some others in a spot where they didn't get enough sun, as you can see from the moss growing on the north side of the house in the July 3 photo at left. But overall I think it was a pretty good first effort.

I planted two types: Regular old Chicago hybrid beets, for the taste, and some nifty organic Chioggia beets I bought in recyclable plastic pouches at Whole Foods, for the red-and-white stripes you see when you cut into one.

I learned, aside from the fact that they need more sun and less rain, that I ought to have planted them a bit deeper (I think too much of the tops were sticking out of the ground and got too dry). I also learned that beet greens are delicious, and so much more of a bonus than my longtime favorite leafy green, Swiss chard, in that you can also eat the root of the beet. They took excellent care of themselves, first, when they quickly grew tall enough for me to easily distinguish them from weeds, and later, when they grew strong enough to overtake the weeds, hence allowing me to avoid weeding altogether.

I also learned that I should have planted more of them. But next year I certainly will. My compost pile is already cooking in anticipation. I picked up two packets of the Chioggias, just in case, only using half of one packet this year because they don't expire till after next summer. But the regular old red hybrids were actually a bit tastier, sweeter and more robust, even creamier, be that an appropriate beet descriptive.


Pictured above is what I think is the take-home message. From start to finish! I couldn't be prouder.

New NYC Ballpark Food Tour '09, Part One

Well, first off, I doubt I'm going to get to Yankee Stadium before this fall is over, so this will probably only be a one-part series.

Went to Citi Field to see the Mets yesterday. I haven't paid much attention to the Mets since, well, 1986, but I did want to see what the new ballfield was all about. The cheap tickets and chance to hang out with some fun coworkers didn't hurt either.

Mostly, though, I wanted to check out the food, chiefly its Shake Shack outpost. The line was pretty long at first pitch, despite there being only about 100 people in the stadium. So we got regular old dogs and beers and headed to our seats. Well, not our seats. We sat in some empty seats closer to the field than our actual seats (not sure if it was due to the team's performance of late, or the U2 concert).

Here's the food rundown. Hot dog: tasty, good bun, everything you'd want it to be. Beer: Miller Lite. Slightly above average owing to the atmosphere. French fries: thicker and less salty than I'd like. But I'm not a big fry person anyway. Dill pickle-flavored sunflower seeds: Wait, what? Did you say "dill pickle-flavored sunflower seeds?" I did! I did say "dill pickle-flavored sunflower seeds!" They were ... interesting. Not available in your area? Sprinkle some pickle juice on a popsicle stick, chew on it for a bit, and spit it out. There you go. Again, though, they really lent something to the ballpark ambiance.

As the game wore on and we assumed the line was growing short, we walked over to the Shake Shack. Hurrah! No line to speak of. So I got myself a vanilla shake even though I didn't think I had the room left in me. It was thick and delicious -- pricey, yes, as I recall, but now I am not exactly sure what it set me back. No more than you'd expect at a stadium, though. I think it was more that the cup was small. I'd be mad if I had counted on it to be my whole meal.
But in the end, I wasn't able to finish it all without succumbing to post-beer heartburn, and so, comfortable in my successful conquest of the park's eateries and in my avoidance of Pepcid, I tossed the near-empty cup in the trash, took a deep breath, and patted my breast. Success.

Archived Food Focuses: my faves, winter '08-'09

-Quaker Muffin Bars. (I love Quakers.)
(EDITOR'S NOTE: They stopped making them since I wrote this! So mad!!)
-Polar vanilla seltzer. It's fantastic.
-Pasta in the old 16-oz. boxes instead of the new, cheap-ass 12-oz. boxes
-My aqua cast iron pot, not new anymore but still heart it
-Medium iced tea, unsweetened, with no lemon ("Yes, I said NO lemon")
-Kosher salt

Breaking the Fast

OK, so there is not really a good excuse for having neglected this so long. But, briefly -- on Dec. 23 I came down with a wicked cold/sinus infection/bronchitis/GI distress/what-have-you. Really not appropriate for a food blog. Basically, too sick to eat or blog. Then my computer crapped out. Then I bought an emergency netbook to tide me over till Windows 7 comes out but its small keyboard is not really conducive to, well, typing. Then I decided my recreational writing time should be spent on my novel. Then things got busy at work and for the past 3 or 4 months my writing chops have been devoted to for-profit writing.

Now the busy season at work is just about over and after about a month of thinking about what I would write to break the fast, so to speak, I decided to just get this all out in one post and then return like nothing ever happened.

So here I am. Back at ya.

The Twelve (Food) Days of Christmas: Day Two

Day Two: Recipe Search
Well, the recipes from cousin Louise are missing. I know they are not totally missing; I think I know where they are but I don't have the energy to dig to the back of my overflowing closet right now to get to them (I'm in the midst of a big cleaning binge right now; don't ask.)

Fortunately most of the Christmas cookie favorites are easy: chocolate chip cookies, some kind of fudge, "peanut butter blossoms" (you know, the cookies with the Hershey's kisses on top? I've also heard them referred to as "titty cookies." If that helps you visualize them.) and the ever-so-1950s "Chinese Chews." These are definitely a grown-up cookie, but not in the same way as the aforementioned peanut butter treats. The main ingredient besides butter is dates. When I was a kid I didn't like these cookies, but the first Christmas without Louise I was determined to replicate her tradition to the letter so I made them anyway. And wouldn't you know ... I loved them! I suppose the dates appeal to the more sophisticated palate that comes with age and experience.

And in 2008, that "sophisticated palate" most certainly wouldn't go around calling these cookies "Chinese Chews." For Pete's sake, dates come from the Middle East. (or California.) But back in the '50s I suppose the name evoked some exotic Oriental kitchen filled with bar cookies sprinkled with confectioner's sugar. A friend asked for the recipe a year or two ago and when I wrote it out I christened them "Chewy Date Bars."

So today, after I couldn't find the recipes (and my mom couldn't find a copy either, probably because she didn't like Chinese Chews when she was a kid and so has no interest in making them herself) I decided to try the Internet. First I looked for "chewy date bars." There's no way anybody out there is calling them "Chinese Chews" in this day and age, I thought. But no luck. So I finally searched, all stealthy-like ("I hope my ISP doesn't think I'm some kind of racist") for "Chinese Chews."

Results 1 - 10 of about 7,240 for "chinese chews".

Lo and behold! There are other people out there looking for these things! Lots of them! And one fellow food blogger even posted a story about her own "hunt" for them, which seems to authenticate my own idea that they are from the Fifties.

And here is a recipe which most closely approximates Louise's, as I remember. It's so simple. The most exotic thing in them are a box of pressed dates. I get mine at Wal-Mart.


EDIT, DEC. 20, 2014: I found Louise's handwritten recipe!
Unfortunately I can't easily add the image right now from my iPad because Google wants to make it difficult for me to do so. (This is why I don't update this blog anymore! Related: Why can't this be more like Wordpress?!)