How have I missed these before? Is it because I tend to skirt the snack section of TJ's? I mean.....Providing you can exercise culinary self-control, a must for TJ cookies, pumpkin ice cream, et al, buy these. I eat 3-5 a day, if so moved. They crunch, the salt level is perfect, and my best pal, olive oil, is involved. Yes!
Photo via French Fry Diary
The fish burrito I ate at this funky joint in Portland, Maine was so perfect, and so hugely generous in size, that I took half back to where I was staying, and happily ate it cold, two days later, as I drove from Maine down to a town on the Hudson River.
But right then and there, in Silly's, my nephew and I shared a divine chocolate cake slice--triple layer, people!--and barely managed to save a two inch portion for those back on the farm. Notice the way they serve the Java: pression. Impressively fresh.
Silly's has a jazzy, retro interior, and serves up drinking water in wine bottles. Fab.
"Food deserts," heard of them? Places where the only groceries available are chips, soda and corn dogs from a convenience store.
Earlier this summer Michelle Obama announced an initiative with major food chains to create more supermarkets for exceedingly under-served neighborhoods. The chains promised 500 such stores.
Now actor Wendell Pierce of the HBO show, Treme, has committed to opening four such stores in hard-hit neighborhoods of his native New Orleans. According to the WaPo, " Grocers have historically been reluctant to open locations in poor neighborhoods, citing problems with crime and transportation. "
The stores are set to open this spring under the name Sterling Farms. Apparently, “the New Orleans Sterling Farms will have a uniquely Big Easy feel— monthly crawfish boils for the neighbors.”
New Mexico farmers in Hatch, the center of the state's once robust chile production, are pulling back from their iconic crop.
According to a report via KOAT-TV,
"It’s been a tough year for farmers and ranchers all over the state, and the small river valley community around Hatch is no exception. First, the record cold caused problems.
“The onion crop didn’t go well this year,” Scott Adams, with Adams Produce Inc., said. “The yields were down early. We had a real hard freeze in February, and it killed a lot of the stems on the onions.”
Drought conditions held spring irrigation released out of Elephant Butte to only 8 percent of normal. So farmers left land open and only grew on what they could pump well water onto.
A lot of the fields in Hatch are growing cotton because it’s cheaper to grow. Cotton costs about $1,000 per acre to grow, while chile costs four to five times that amount.
High cotton prices and the ability to cheaply harvest it have led to a smaller chile harvest."
"Cheap harvesting," usually means fewer human laborers involved, of course.
Guess who is the largest foreign consumer of US cotton by far? China, no surprise. They grow more of almost every edible than any other country, selling much to the US, and they import raw materials at a faster clip than almost anyone.
Farm subsidies for chiles?
Back in the day, these places were everywhere. Rough hewn, selling jewelry as well as artwork and food, garden-surrounded, almost self-serve, often veggie.
It's Eklectica in Moab, within reach of the soaring red rock formations of Arches National Park, an oasis of fresh ingredients, and inventive baked goods like the praline with a center of choc chips....
But--before that, we had tofu w/peanut sauce on saffron basmati rice and a salmon cake with tarragon tartar sauce. Yes!
At right: yet another offering--from what we ate at Eklecticafe, contrapuntal to the USDA plate---
Whoa! Cruising through the small town of Fruita, CO, today, after changing drivers, on our way from Ouray to Moab, Utah, we began to see bikes everywhere--actual bikes, bike signage, bike sculpture, and finally, a funky-looking bike w/tomato sign for an eatery that simply drew us in. Hot Tomato Cafe.
Then the friendly staffers, the vibrant feel, and the Granny's Pesto Pizza sealed the deal. We bought, we ate, we swooned, we reckoned that the locals, who began to stream in about 5:30, felt the same way.
What a find, especially when not looking for anything at all. ( To eat, that is. We were in search of fruit production stories from the area. More on that to come.)
Turns out Fruita, a town settled as a center for fruit-growing---who knew?---is today a major mountain bike center, and the cafe itself was the inspiration of a biker and a biker/bike photographer.
Did they know that the tomato is a fruit?
Likely they did. They live in Fruita, so yes.
Here is the inestimable Granny Pesto, a pie with feta as well as mozzarella, thin-crusted and generously loaded with basil-rich sauce and multitudes of tomato.
We intended to take the pizza--2 giant slices-- with us on down the road to Moab, for eating later. Having taken it "out," we sniffed the box, opened it, and sat in our parked vehicle, scarfing it down right then and there, offering bits of crust to our eager terrier whose vocabulary includes the words "pizza night."
Ah, the bounty of Florida! Fish so fresh it smells like Febreze, new spuds in winter, real-tasting strawberries, plump tomatoes, Cuban cigars and sandwiches, oysters, spiny lobsters, crawfish, tropical fruits like mangoes, starfruit and lychees, and so it goes. It even has Ikea--but, alas, still no Trader Joe's.
So it is with special pleasure that we return to TJ-land here in New Mexico. And this morning we breakfasted on scrambled eggs ( from the growers market) and TJ Whole Wheat Croissants, baked in our fave old countertop convection oven. Flaky, tasty, light, divine.
And healthy as can be, especially with a generous addition of Irish butter and boysenberry jam. Yeah!
For those to whom the breakdown of foods into carbs, fats, calories, proteins, etc., holds a special fascination, take a look at this site that evaluates Trader Joe's products. It's from Livestrong, Lance Armstrong's non profit foundation. ( Did he or didn't he? And do we care?)
Cruising through one of Florida's biggest supermarkets, I paused in the chicken section, seeking organic wings for my...dog. What passes for the butcher in these places was putting meat in the cooler, so I asked him why seemingly there were no organic wings available. I said I didn't want any chicken filled with antibiotics, even for my...dog.
He paused, smiled, and looked at me, as if gauging what type of shopper I was. "You know, everybody should have access to chicken free of antibiotics, chickens not raised eating other chickens. None of our food should be anything but the best!"
"But, unfortunately," he went on, wiping his hands on a white cloth, "People these days can't afford the best chicken. Or they won't. They won't pay the extra for organic wings, so.....we don't even stock them."
"What we eat, our fuel, though, it should be worth eating, right? It should be healthy," I said.
"They can afford soda and chips," he said.
We both sighed.
For more on soda and chips, see the New Yorker piece on Pepsico, and the push of its CEO, Indra Nooyi, for "healthy" drinks/snacks. Here's an idea: stop producing Pepsi!
Wallace McCain, 81, the Canadian whose McCain Foods apparently produces more frozen fries than any other company, died on May 13 a billionaire, sitting in the middle of the Forbes billionaire list, in spite of a reputation as a celebrated philanthropist...
McCain Foods does supply McD's with some of its frozen fries, along with Simplot, and others. Just the other day, on a total whim, I pulled into a McD and ordered fries. First time since the 1970's.
OMG the fries were as I remembered---like thin strands of cardboard, bearing zero resemblance to freshly prepared fries made from fresh potatoes. In a word, wretched. In three words, not worth eating.
It occurs to me that I have never bought any packaged frozen fries for use at home. On the theory that if I eat fries, I will either make them myself ( tossed in olive oil and baked, really) or buy them out, from an eatery that makes them fresh. I wonder if there is a frozen fry product for sale that is worth exploring....
So we went, we had our free "traditional" fondue for two, done up at the table and served with soft, not dried bread, plus some veggies, and a bit of Grannie Smith apple, we sat in an extremely dark Melting Pot restaurant in St Petersburg, Florida and noted that the amount of kirsch added to the fondue pot was miniscule--that is, not enough!---and we emerged into the light of day, hungry. Now, yes, apparently at this place one is supposed to have fondue as a lead-in to a steak, maybe. But we were there for the fondue. I'm telling you. ( I did enjoy a fine glass of NZ Sauvignon Blanc...)
Make it yourself at home. Be generous with the ingredients. Enough said.
Yes, indeedy. This is what makes Amurrica great. And your faithful foodie will be dining Wednesday at The Melting Pot on a FREE fondue, because I responded to a teensy writeup in a newspaper, of all things, remember those?
More as the day(s) unfold(s.)
( Nifty looking fondue, plus recipe from Prime Cuts Blog.)
OMG All winter I have been living in a place with no microbreweries! But now, a local home brewer has climbed up out of his basement/sauntered out of his garage, and, voila, via Dog Brewing Company in Westminster, Maryland, Tom Williams is seeing his Florida orange-inspired concoction foaming forth. At this point it's available exclusively at a new " craft beer" bar in town featuring 32 drafts, The Ale and Witch.
Michelle Williams, CEO of St Pete Brew, said they wanted to move slowly, first by gaining interest on Facebook, then brewing up one offering. The Williams' intend to build or create the St Pete Brew brewery in due time. But for the moment, it's St Pete Brew out of Maryland.
The logo pictured here was designed by Carrie Jadus, who grew up in St. Pete. It features the inverted diamond structure on St Pete Pier, the intertwining banyans on the inner harbor, a tower of the iconic Hotel Vinoy and happy throngs, among other elements. An airboat? It's busy, what can I say. I'd like a closer look at it.
And a glass of the ale. I think it will be Belgian-like.
Had any Pringles today? Huh? Huh? They get a D- nutritional rating from Calorie Count, with 160 cals for 14 of the little cleverly shaped non-foods. Fat, salt and carb. Always thought they were cardboardy.
According to Potato Pro Newsletter, Pringles, which are fried and not baked, are "made from potato flour, corn flour, wheat starch and rice flour, together with fat and emulsifier, salt and seasoning, with a potato content of around 42 % only."
There you go, world. More to get fat on and with. Take another soda with those salty non-chips!
P&G sold the Pringles brand and line recently for $ 1.5 billion to Diamond Foods Inc., a company started back in the last century by walnut growers banding together in California. Walnuts, in bags. Actual food.
Seeing Pringles for sale always reminded me to rush out and play tennis, somehow. Wonder why that was.
(Hey--the tin(?) makes a zany iPod holder, or so said the geeks two years ago, Dude, the Forever Geeks, that is.)
David L. Ryan/Globe Staff
via www.boston.com
"In a move intended to inject more pizzazz into the Boston Common, city officials announced today that they have chosen a Florida-based sandwich chain to operate the Pink Palace, a long-vacant historic structure originally built as a restroom."
The 11 Earl of Sandy, Mr Montagu, apparently is distantly involved in this venture by Earl of Sandwich, Inc. based in Orlando, FL. His gaming, too- busy-to-sit-down-to-eat ancestor, the 4th Earl threw the meat between two hunks of bread in 1762, thus setting in motion the carb-ridden anxieties we experience today.
( Left: "The Full Montagu" hot sandwich, from the Earl chain.)
Should you wish to invest in a franchise....see below.
Push a cart down a supermarket aisle, and you’ll pass a kaleidoscope of color. The use of artificial dyes by foodmakers is up by half since 1990, and it’s not limited to candy. The list of foods made pretty by chemicals now includes pickles, bagels and port wine cheese balls.
Many years ago, on a visit to Hawaii, our 4 year-old was given a blue shaved ice treat, one of the favorites of the people in that region. Minutes later, from the backseat, he erupted in wild crying and agitation, and we tossed the blue monstrosity out, and gave him water, and possibly ginger ale. When he was older, after another odd incident I cannot recall, it was determined by some doc that he was “allergic” to red dyes.
Maybe everyone is allergic to chemical food additives!
Shave ice was a Japanese notion dating back centuries, and at first was a specialty only for those wealthy enough to have access to snow/ice, etc. When Japanese immigrants arrived to work the big sugar plantations of Hawaii, they brought the shave ice concept with them. Hawaii Shaved Ice has the full story.
(Photo is from Matsumoto Shave Ice, a 60 year-old business in Haleiwa, on Oahu's north shore. A food heritage site, for sure. It’s likely that esoteric shave(d) ice joints are using naturally colored flavorings today, but back in the 1980’s, not so much.)
At the Saturday Market this morning I went nuts---2 giant gatherings of rainbow chard; 2 quarts strawberries; 2 quarts beans; 1 quart mixed squash; 2 heads lettuce; 1 quart Japanese eggplant; tomatoes; pink potatoes; Chioggia beets; Italian parsley....I could barely stagger with it all back to the car....then shot to Mastry's Fish place, hoping for porgie, a delicious white fish I just ate for the first time last week.
"No porgie today, but have you had triggerfish? You will love it," said the woman who sold me the porgie. "We'll ring it up here and you just give the guy who cleans it $2." The triggerfish looks like a large, flat tropical fish to me. ( Duh.)
Having paid for a pound of stone crab, and the triggerfish, I headed out to the shed, the heron and egret hanging out in the parking lot keeping keen eyes on the proceedings. A young guy ahead of me is waiting for his mango snapper to be cleaned. "This is the finest fish you can get here," he says. "Absolutely delicious. But of course everything is so fresh at Mastry's there's almost nothing that isn't good."
Mango snapper next time. And more porgie. And whatever else they suggest. I am putty in their fishy hands.
ps A fish caught in the morning and eaten in the evening, possible where we are spending several months of the year in St Petersburg, Florida, is unlike any other. Maybe this is utterly obvious. The chard, grown with ample water, is twice as large as the chard I can buy in Albuquerque. Obvious.
Albuquerque and St Pete: two unique, interesting places, each with great food. Grand.
Ridiculous reporting, but there it is. According to a CNN/Money piece today, "rich Americans flock to fast food." One woman quoted would rather focus on buying Jimmy Chooooooos than continue fine dining. So I took a look and found this ankle-breaking shoe, two of which cost $1295.
Lori Riviere, quoted in the article would rather slum it at Chipotle's, say, --not McD's, apparently---and then spend the savings--garnered by eating out over 20 times at a lesser watering hole-- on a shoe that comes with its own brace. Sensible choice. Fine.
If you can find this place, Linger Lodge, nominally in Bradenton, Florida, you'll be glad you brought the entire family, kids, aging Aunties and all. There truly is something for everyone, even laundry nuts. Since this is a campground/RV park, you can toss your scummies in a machine while you wait for your order of frogs' legs.
The Lodge is set on the Braden River, alive with fowl and gators--they had not yet woken up from winter when we were there--and the kayaking is dandy. You can rent a log cabin, sheets provided, or park your RV. Or simply eat at the restaurant, and then stroll past assorted dead animals, preserved lovingly by a former owner, the taxidermist.
Did I know there was a tv genre dubbed "workplace comedy?" Not really, but over the years I have noticed that most people in tv comedies rarely work, prepare food, or eat. To the rescue comes the new animated show from Fox, "Bob's Burgers," about a bizarre yet cohesive family of five, The Belchers, running an iffy burger joint in an unknown city. They work, they prepare food, they eat! ( And the restaurant's biggest competitor is Jimmy Pesto's Pizzeria.)
The humor is off-the-wall, unexpected, droll, low key. The NYTimes reviewer found "Bob's" vulgar. My, my. It does veer into 4th grade boy-land a few times, and poop jokes will probably be left, um, behind soon by the writers, but this show is worth a look. Maybe a second or third look. I admit I almost said no after Week 2, but I am glad I stuck with it.
Yes, it's not entirely even. The show with the cow was great, the show with Bob faux-trapped in the walls, not so much. My favorite epi thus far was last week, where Bob's oldest hapless, drony daughter Tina gets a crush on a long-haired instructor of Capoeira, the Brazilian combo of martial arts, music and dance. Tina fails her Cap test and is crushed. Fatherly concern arises. Sweet.
The "drawing" itself is superb, each character well conveyed. Watching graceless Tina swinging herself back and forth like a metronome....Running gags feature things like The Cumin-Get-It Burger on signs posted at the counter.
BTW The Capoeira guy asked Bob for a veggie burger, can you believe?
