After two years of owning every word on this blog, I am ready to share my space. Starting now, my good friend, partner, and fellow passionate home cook Rebecca Gart will be contributing to this blog on a regular basis under the Family Meal label.
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Among the 100 things you should do before you die, attending the Food and Wine Classic in Aspen is a given. It is outrageous, spectacular, overwhelming to the senses. For the food lover, it is like being at the Oscars and roaming among the stars, eating, drinking, small talking. The Food and Wine Classic 2012 is in full swing this week and parties happen as I type so my call to action here is a tad on the later side but here is the good news. There is a mini version of this event that you can still experience, the tail end of the fabulous weekend – the Grand Cochon.
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Father’s Day has to include cocktails. Actually, any celebration should include cocktails but it is imperative to include liquor when celebrating any parent. My better half likes a good cocktail, but more than once he found himself sporting a pink drink in a girly glass in a bar or restaurant. And I could not perpetuate that on Father’s Day. Today’s cocktail is the best adult cherry cola you have ever had. It is a summery Americana Spritz made with a lot of un-American ingredients.
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Rich, smooth, snappy, Ritual Chocolate is my go-to treat. The presentation is clean and simple. The chocolate bar is glossy, the flavor is deep and rich, the taste stunning. Months ago when I fell in love with Ritual, I considered hoarding the information just in case there wasn’t enough once it got discovered. Now I need to just say: this is the best bite of dark chocolate one can get in the state of Colorado. Ritual Chocolate is a small production company: one couple- Robbie Stout and Anna Davies, an old-fashioned philosophy of crafting chocolate, vintage machines, and countless hours spent sourcing the best cacao beans and transforming them into pure joy for the dark chocolate lover. This chocolate is made with two ingredients: cacao beans and cane sugar, which makes it: vegan and gluten-free. Until just weeks ago, Ritual produced only one variety: Costa Rica. A new addition of cacao beans from Madagascar, provides some diversity to the offerings. I get it at my favorite coffee shops: Crema in Denver and Boxcar in Boulder, but you can also find it at Curtis Park Deli, Marczyck, and the Market.
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Do you do that thing where you imagine everyone in the room in their underwear? Gabrielle Hamilton asked me when I confided that I was a little nervous. I looked at her for a long second, then said she still looked great. I met Gabrielle Hamilton at Frasca Food and Wine for an interview yesterday afternoon. As I drove there, I was nervous – not the star-struck way knot in my throat nervousness. It was more the butterflies in my stomach- please-don’t-disappoint-me way. I respect and love Hamilton for all she is – a solid cook, a skilled writer, and a well-recognized figure in the food world.
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Last year I practically begged to go on this trip. I missed my chance to sign up by a couple of weeks and it was, not surprisingly, sold out. The Truffle has organized a farm trip every year- one farm, one day, a bus full of cheese-lovers loyal to the shop and thankful they were on the ball enough to secure their seat. Because of the popularity of this trip, Karin and Rob Lawler, owners of the Truffle, decided to do a double day at the farm. Join the Truffle for Get a Whey on Sunday, May 27th or Monday, May 28th at Ugly Goat Milk Company – departure 8:45 a.m. from Denver, return at 3:00 p.m. Ugly Goat Milk Company is spectacular- there are goats and cows, dogs and ducks, geese and a few sheep, horses, alpacas and a couple llamas – a lovely mix to be enjoyed by kids and grownups alike. To reserve your space on the bus, please call the shop at 303-322-7363. All of our knowledgeable staff can answer questions you may have. Cost $65 per person for adults, $55 for children. Cost includes transportation to and from the farm, personal tour of the farm, gourmet lunch prepared … Continue reading
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Not long ago, a good friend sent the link to an article talking about the new and buzzy book French Kids Eat Everything. It made me uncomfortable and that discomfort and similar previous nagging feelings gave birth to the Family Meal, a new section of the blog. I did not read the book, but the title irritated me. Say this to yourself – French kids eat everything – and you will hopefully get uncomfortable too. Seriously, think about it. There is nothing magic about French kids. They are born the same way all kids are born: 10 fingers, 10 toes, two eyes, a nose, a mouth, and a blank slate for growing, learning, and developing everything including taste in food. French kids and American kids and Romanian kids and Venezuelan kids – probably Martian kids too if there were any- all of them eat everything. They are wired to eat everything, sooner or later. Must you look up to the special French kids who eat everything? Take their example? Follow their lead? Wonder in shock and awe, whispering, How do they do it? You got it: no. If you have a kid, your kid eats everything. So stop. Stop thinking … Continue reading
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If you love food, you know food. There are no rules on exactly what you are supposed to know, but there are some ideas in my head and they go beyond tasting and cooking and making and dining. These ideas are about knowing – knowing the history, the characters, the places, the best and the worst of it all. If you love food, you live it even when it isn’t with you, even when you can’t taste it all, read it all, experience it all. If you love food, you know who Alice Waters is, you own the Joe Beef Cookbook, you dream of eating at Noma, you regret never having experienced El Bulli, you idolize Ruth Reichl, and still watch Anthony Bourdain. If you love food, you loved bacon when bacon was just bacon, not an infusion for scotch, not an ice cream flavor, not a fad- just bacon- old school soul-soothing fat, smoky bacon. If you love food, you know Benton’s Bacon because you have to, because it is the best, because it is an icon, because it is a staple and a benchmark for bacon everywhere and anywhere and also because it is now a piece of food … Continue reading
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Some of the best parties I have ever been to were the Fuel Patio parties. There was always a theme- a pig roast, a pizza party, Spanish tapas- always complete with beautiful food, nice music, and a community of people that loved their environment and life in general. The patio is perfectly fitted for it and there is always plenty of parking. The only catch is you need to book your spot in advance- there are limited seats and it is invariably sold out. Details below.
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Mothers everywhere unite! This one is for you — but make no mistake, you can keep looking anyway cause the soup is pretty awesome and the idea behind the story is completely doable in a kid-free environment- it isn’t just kids who like soup for lunch. I pack my daughter lunch nearly every day. I cook it, of course, and it is challenging, no doubt. There is one thing I know she will eat almost all the time: soup. It cannot be the same soup though because she gets bored. My bandwidth for soup-making, however, is limited. This is how Wa-Sup was born, a group of friends, moms, and cooks. I sent a message to five friends with children of my daughter’s age, all of whom really know their way around the kitchen. My friends went along with the idea of meeting once a month and swapping homemade soups packed neatly in 12 ounce bpa-free containers that work in the freezer, the microwave, and the dishwasher. Drinks, apps, and conversation are a great bonus. Four months later, I love this group more than any club, group, or gathering that I have ever been a part of. That hour at my … Continue reading
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Andra Zeppelin : French Press Memos