eat make read

I was so excited to open an email from Brooklyn Based yesterday to read about a great site called Tasting Table. Not only is the site super lovely to look at, it’s filled with great nyc food-related info. From where to eat to where to exotic Halloween treats, this site is a great resource.

As I was browsing through the site I was pumped to see an interview with Bierkraft’s Ben Granger. We visit Bierkraft almost weekly for a fresh supply of beer or cheese or both and let me tell you, this guy knows his stuff. I swear, if you ask him about any cheese or beer, he most certainly will know where it was made, who made it and what their favorite color is. Ok, maybe not the color thing, but I’m always amazed by his knowledge of the store’s products.

It’s funny, I never tire of reading about food and people’s experiences related to it. When reader Keavy suggested I might like Alone in the Kitchen with an Eggplant, I went ahead and picked it up. I like to pace my reading, so usually I’ll read something a little dense and then read something that’s a bit lighter to give my brain a break. I picked this book up right after reading Omnivore’s Dilemma and it was the perfect fix after reading such an information laden book.

Alone in the Kitchen is a collection of people’s experiences eating and cooking for themselves. They range from funny to comforting to a little depressing, but all are worth the read. Each story is also followed up by a recipe related to the story. Alone in the Kitchen with an Eggplant is a great, quick read. Definitely worth a read.

The Times just ran a piece on new fall cookbooks that has me biting my tongue. In the past few months I’ve picked up Nigella Lawson’s Good Food Fast, Shopsin’s Eat Me and the new Baked cookbook to my collection. I promised myself I wouldn’t buy anymore for a while but after reading this it’s going to be hard. The one that might get me: A Platter of Figs and other recipes.

I’ve been a little slack when it comes to writing about reading. But don’t you fret, I’ve been reading away for the past month or so and I have a few good books to tell you about.

Omnivore’s Dilemma is one of those book that I always picked up at the bookstore but always carefully put it back on the shelf before it leaving. It just seemed too intimidating. I mean, do I really want to know all that stuff about my food? Am I really ready to contemplate the lifecyle of each ingredient of my dinner each night? These are the questions that ran through my head each time I looked at that dang book. But then my friend was reading it and had really good things to say about it. So I took the leap and I’m glad I did.

I find the things I was worried about knowing, such as the way my food is treated before it gets to my plate, whether it be an animal or a vegetable, are things I’m really glad to know more about. The book is divided into three sections, the first being industrial farming where he sees the life cycle of corn, something I’d never given a ton of though to. In second section he looks into organic farming and exactly what “organic” means these days. The last section follows the author as he makes the meal of his life, hunting or growing each element of the meal.

I think what I liked best about the book is that it made me stop reading and contemplate what is being said. It put things into perspective that I’ve never really given that much time to. I think you’ll be happy you read it. I am.

This makes me so happy. A few weeks ago I received a letter from my grandma with this newspaper inside labeled “Celebrity Cook Book”. I flipped through it and on the last page there’s an article about my mom and her love of cooking. It’s accompanied by a big picture of her and me in the kitchen.

My mom passed away 10 years after this article was written and about 4 years before I became interested in cooking, so it was especially fun to read about the things she liked to cook. She always told me that one day I’d love to cook and of course, she was right. The article even said back then I liked to bake, something I don’t remember. I think a sweet tooth runs in the family.

The celebrity cookbook was just a nice little suprise that brightened my day. Now I have to get to baking! I hope you have a fantastic fall weekend.

I have to admit it, I’m obsessed with bon appétit. I just love that magazine. I picked up this month’s issue last week and I swear, every page had something great on it. I just kept turning, looking, reading, drooling. Oh, and I’m not sure I can wait until Thanksgiving to make this. Maybe I’ll have to do a “test run” to see if it’ll work for the big day. wink, wink.

Last week I attended the Brooklyn Based Pig Roast, an event I was super excited about. We’d never been to the event space, the Yard, and it was pretty awesome. Perhaps if I didn’t live in a city, it wouldn’t seem like anything great, but living and working in an urban environment, the Yard seemed like a country oasis. It’s just an open space filled with picnic tables and cute lights along the gowanus canal.

I’ve been a little hesitant to write about the experience because it wasn’t quite what I expected. We arrived only to find we had to wait an hour in line just to get a beer. Then once we finally got our hands on some delicious Sixpoint, we had to turn around and wait in an equally long line to get our food. Needless to say, we were a little frustrated, but once we had a beer or two we relaxed a little. And thinking about it afterwards, I think the wait ended up working in our favor because it fuels conversation in line and kind of connects people.

So we waited for beer, we waited for food, which ended up being pork tacos (yesss!) with corn that rocked my world and a few other goodies. Unfortunatley our patience for line waiting had reached it’s limits and we didn’t wait around for dessert, which was suppose to be apple crisp, but I’m sure it was tasty. It felt like the crew at Brooklyn Based weren’t quite prepared for their own popularity, but they’re smart cookies and I think the next event will be a bit more organized. I know I’ll be there.

Oh what a delight it was when I saw that this week’s NYT magazine was the food issue. Of course I ran out first thing to pick up an issue. It’s full of great articles regarding food, from how the next president can change to way we think about food to young leaders making a difference in the food industry to perhaps my favorite article, “Flipping the Bird”, about Kenny Shopsin. If you don’t live in New York, or you just missed the hard copy, you can check out all the great articles here.

Friday’s here once again and lucky for me I have the day off… woohoo! I hope you have a wonderful weekend full of sun, leaves changing color and good food in your belly.

Oh, and if you’re in the city, don’t forget about the Brooklyn Based Pig Roast tonight.

outside the farm, a lovely flower

A few weeks ago Aaron and I participated in a super fun event to benefit Added Value. The Times just wrote a nice article about the farm that gave me kick in the butt to tell you about it. Added Value is a non profit that runs an urban farm founded by Ian Marvy and Michael Hurwitz about 8 years ago. It’s not your typical farm with a barn and acres upon acres of land, instead this farm is set on an old baseball diamond. With permission from the city, Mr. Marvy and Mr. Hurwitz, with the help of neighborhood children and teenagers, built beds on top of the asphalt in order to begin growing crops.

Co-Founder of Added Value, Ian Marvy, Fresh veggies

The event we attended on the farm was set under a tent right in the middle of the farm. Four courses were prepared by the amazing cooks from the Good Fork, with many of the vegetables coming straight from the farm. Beer was provided by the friendly folks at Sixpoint Brewery, which was only a few blocks away. It was really quite an experience to eat and drink a meal that was rooted, literally, so close to where we ate it.

The tent where we dined, the wonderful cooks from the Good Fork

We still have yet to visit the farmer’s market on Saturdays, but it’s high on my list of things to do. If you get a chance, check out the awesome farming happening in Red Hook.