Zest & Thyme

Redirecting

2011-12-04T11:47:00.005-05:00

I make Brunchinner now.

Plum Cake, or Brownie, or Just Something Good That Happened in a Cast Iron Pan

2011-08-11T14:04:00.009-04:00

"What if I baked a plum into cornbread?"

I don't know why, I just wanted to. But I didn't have any cornmeal, and a friend had suggested spice cake instead. I'm not sure what this is, but I went into the kitchen last night and something happened: I baked.

I hate measuring and reading recipes for more than inspiration, which is why baking is a blind act to me—completely unlike the spontaneous, add-as-you-go process I take to cooking that usually sends me into a trance, whirling back and forth from the spice rack till something is ready to serve, not waiting curiously beside the oven.

But I pulled out an old Betty Crocker Cookbook, glanced at the list for spice cake and then listened to every odd idea that came into my head.

1 plum
1 cup spelt flour
3/4 cup sugar
1/4 cup olive oil
1 egg
about 1 teaspoon each: salt, cinnamon, nutmeg, baking powder, vanilla extract
a little vanilla soy milk
a couple drops of orange seltzer water (again, I don't know why)

Cut plum in half—hold one half and chop up the other into a medium-heated cast iron pan with cinnamon and butter till mushy. Mix all other ingredients into a batter, mix the mushy plums in too, and pour back into the cast iron pan to send into a preheated oven at 350ºF for 15 minutes.

Place other half of plum into center of cake as it's starting to set, then put back into oven for another 20 minutes or until a fork can poke through and come out clean.

Glaze top with maple syrup, bake for another 5 minutes, then remove, let cool and powder with sugar. Frosted plum brownie spice cake.

Respect Butchers Like Your Best 6th Grade Lab Partner

2011-06-06T12:42:00.007-04:00

If there was dissection going on in 6th grade science class, I knew not to go in with a weak partner. I knew to pick someone giddy to take a knife to a frog—the same kid who probably made worm mud pie during pre-school recess, who'd grow up with no sweat separating a shoulder from a cow. I need this person, because I more than sweat.

Though I wish I could, I can't even chop a sardine's head without feeling a little clammy. And thanks to a profession like butchery, I don't have to, for the same reason I don't have to perform root canal on a friend. Doing it yourself is great, and certainly a great lesson in something we no longer need to know how to do. And, really, I'm working on it. But above all, we got to give it to those who do it every day, and with such care and precision, without a flinch.

I wonder, often, how, in fact, they got over the sound of animal bone cracking or seeing a skinned head. Is it, I wonder, like getting used to the necessary crackle of killing a bug? Or is it, for them, as common as taking a drumstick from a chicken, something we easily associate with food not flesh?

However they do it, I say thank you, and, is it over yet?

Summer Must-Reads of 2011, Food-wise

2011-06-01T08:00:00.002-04:00

Tomatoland
In what started as a James Beard Award-winning Gourmet article, food politics journalist Barry Estabrook traces the modern supermarket tomato from the deserts of Peru through paltry paid farmworkers in Florida hoping on at least a one cent per pound wholesale raise for the fruits of their labor. "What can you say when you find twelve farm workers, covered in pesticides living in a trailer and paying $2,000 a month," asked Estabrook at this year's Cooking For Solutions conference at Monterey Bay Aquarium, home of the much-adopted Seafood Watch guide. Now there's a look at just how unsustainable and unfair the trade is for tomatoes, and in Estabrook's always vivid words.

Tart & Sweet
Before this summer's crops bloom into unmanageable quantities, here's a plan of action: a whole cookbook devoted to canning and pickling, but one both pie-baking, chutney-packing moms and beer mustard-curious guys can use. Learn to make what all the cool picklers make—candied kumquats, citrus-ginger-pear butter, habañero hot sauce, daikon pickles, fermented kimchi, and recipes to go with, like nachos with pickled okra, braised short ribs with pickled onions, and a Martini with pickled ramps. Read more about the catering co. responsible for these renditions, Sweet Deliverance, at Edible Manhattan.

Beer Craft
Given all the small-scale breweries popping up all over the country, a pair of NYC apartment-bound recreational beermakers (a journalist for the WSJ, GQ, Fast Company; a web-savvy designer/editor) figured there should be simpler, more up-to-date literature on homebrewing for more would-be entrepreneurs. Complete with illustrations and one-gallon recipes, they've created such a guide. Check them in this Edible Manhattan news spot.

Goat: Meat, Milk, Cheese
Goat's cheese is well-eaten in the U.S. but not yet its meat (save for street-side rarities), despite the worldwide attention it gets for its lean, low-cholesterol cuts that cook like lamb. With recipes like saag paneer curry, goat empanadas with chimichurri, jerk-rubbed leg with blood orange and chops roasted with blackberries and sage, this cookbook might send you begging your butcher. There's also lessons in cheese-making, dairy-milking and goat-raising; cultural context; and new adaptations for milk and cheese, like chocolate-dipped goat cheese balls.

Edible
Those Edibles—you may have heard of them way too many times here but in case you wanted to check out the work of Edible magazines outside your region, the community has published a compilation of best-of articles and recipes. It's a good way to get to know all those small-scale American food businesses, farmers and lesser-known chefs that are doing right by food in an industry that became so confusing and far-removed from the days of family farms and neighborhood butchers.

Yeah, ramps, again.

2011-05-31T13:38:00.008-04:00

They're so talked about, by mid-spring, you're tired of hearing about them, unless you've had them. Don't you wish you engineered a garlicky onion before we found out they grow naturally? A cast-iron grilled batch dipped in spicy tomato sauce and slung back à la that No Reservations episode from Spain I keep going back to. (See: This video at the 3-minute mark.)

What People Are Talking About: Pork, Beets and Antibiotics

2011-05-27T10:49:00.013-04:00

Food's confusing these days. Every Friday, I'll recap the biggest news of the week.
Here goes May 21-27.

Pink Pork is Safe
Tuesday, the USDA dropped the recommended "done" temperature for pork from 160ºF to 145ºF, the read for all safe-to-serve cuts of meat, except poultry, which remains at 165ºF. To this chefs say, yeah we know. We're also reminded to let meat stand for three minutes to kill pathogens. Or as we more often hear, prevent juices from bleeding out onto the board.

No GMO Sugar Beets, yet.
Not so easy, says the courts to Monsanto. Organic supporters got a glimmer of that "friendly co-existence" we'd been hearing about from Sec. of Ag Tom Vilsack when the Ninth Circuit Court of Appeals ruled that genetically modified sugar beets would not be approved without a final Environmental Impact Statement, something the USDA has often overlooked or ignored when approving GMO product in the past.

Quit With The Antibiotics, Okay?
"Approximately 80% of all antibiotics used in the United States today are used in livestock." That's the battle call for groups suing the FDA over antibiotic overuse, particularly penicillin and tetracyclines in animal feed. Overuse (how's 29 million pounds?) only allows for drug resistance and a need for ever-stronger doses—something the FDA concluded years ago.

Also: The new food pyramid icon comes out June 2; lackey regulations on food marketing to kids continue; the "ag-gag" bill dies in Florida and Minnesota but remains in Iowa and reaches New York; major mislabeling in seafood; and Mark Zuckerberg will only eat what he kills.

(cartoon via Nerdy Science Blog)

Wooden Knives, Randoms of Handmedown Kitchendom

2011-05-26T15:28:00.016-04:00

Few kitchenwares get passed down—some get lost in nooks, some trashed from forgotten (burnt) rice or rust. Some, no one wants. Then there's the few stragglers that remain from a set and become go-tos—a random fork with a funky engraving you know nothing about; an old kettle with a crazy-hot handle that you love anyway.

I have a stout, stemless wine glass like that with a horseshoe on its base. And a wood-handled knife. It sort of looks like this, courtesy the 1911-born Brazilian company whose name I found on the blade. But Dad can't remember where he got it before he settled down and the American site is down, too. Any old kitchen draw stragglers you wish you had twelvefold?

Maybe just the one is okay.

Hey, Bourbon Maple Syrup

2011-05-25T13:27:00.008-04:00

New York's first legal distillery since prohibition, Tuthilltown (profiled a bit ago in Edible Manhattan for its award-winning, local-grain-sourced spirits), is spreading out into breakfast. They've teamed up with Noble, a line of tonics (see also: Egyptian chamomile, XO vinegar) offered through mushroom foragers/artisanal purveyors Mikuni Wild Harvest—and the newly launched Gilt Taste that doubles as food literature and marketplace. (Gourmet is back.)

The syrup: It's made from Canadian maple that's aged in Tuthilltown's bourbon barrels for six to nine months, and according to Bon Appétit, works great as a bacon glaze.

I swear I've heard this concept before:

"What's on this?"
"Mrs. Butterworth's."
"Go get it... That's rum. Read labels."
"Is it bad?"
"Not really."

Ugly Tastes Good

2011-05-25T11:07:00.015-04:00

These curves and bends and twists are real. It's just how some vegetables come out of the ground. And they taste good, sometimes even better than the pretty ones. Plus, they're funny and you kind of feel like you can relate to them. Foraging photographer Uli Westphal has seeked them out since 2006 for his series, Mutatoes, that's now traveling on exhibition like a work of natural sculpture. But as environmental writer Nicola Twilley points out, they were once unmarketable.

Like some kind of Best in Show loser upstaged by a predictable purebred, according to the standards of the European Economic Community, a mutant vegetable is not a vegetable. “Cucumbers must not bend at a gradient of more than 1/10," quotes Twilley from the EEC. "An onion could ‘only be sold if two thirds is covered in skin,’ and the white part of the leek had to ‘represent at least one-third of the total length or half the sheathed part.’”

Guess you had to know a guy to get one. As I watch my backyard seeds spread into stems (updates to come soon), I'm hoping on a few big-butted tomatoes. No lie.

(Prints available for purchase here.)

Kielbasa Happens in the Rain

2011-05-23T16:39:00.024-04:00

I want to preface this with: I've lived with a fair share of vegetarians and I love them dearly. But sometimes you need to drive to your nearest supermarket and pick up a shrink-wrapped horseshoe of meat. And sometimes you need to put that meat in a cast iron pan because it's raining outside. Cast iron pans are heavy and take some settling in, but if you like serious split-crackled burn marks on your links, buy a $23 Lodge and have it for life.

I never read measurements. Cooking is experimental and subjective, so tinker with how much you like of the following ingredients:

The Meat----The Potatoes---- The Salad
• kielbasa___• potatoes--------• Romaine lettuce, baby spinach (or other greens)
• garlic--------• butter-----------• dressing: mustard, lemon, olive oil, pepper
• thyme-------• yellow onion---• roasted garlic
• oregano-----• black pepper---• scallions
• mustard---- • paprika---------

What to do
Set meat into pan on medium heat, approximately five minutes per side, adding halved garlic cloves, thyme and oregano after first side. Meanwhile, bake potatoes in microwave till soft. Mix salad ingredients, adding roasted garlic from pan when caramelized.

Remove meat. Butter pan. Add baked, cubed potatoes and sliced onions to hot pan. Stir occasionally till caramelized hash browns. Sprinkle paprika and pepper and serve with meat and a squirt of mustard. Alternate with salad, or let the meat coma ensue.

(photo via NerdFlux)

At Smorgasburg, A Ginger Ale With Ginger

2011-05-23T14:47:00.011-04:00

Street fare hit the Brooklyn Flea in a big way this weekend with the launch of Smorgasburg (in, um, Williamsburg), and among a lot of new products—Thai relish-dressed hot dogs from Asia Dog, 1970s Chinatown-style sesame noodles from Shorty Tang & Sons, Japanese octopus puffs from Mimi & Coco NY—there was a familiar one: Q Tonic, a tonic as natural as the Brits used in the first gin and tonic circa 17th century Peru. Now, ginger ale gets the reboot.

Q Ginger, like Q Tonic, is loaded with its long-lost defining ingredient (for tonic, that'd be quinine), along with natural sweetener agave. Accompanying the medicinal root: coriander, cardamom, cayenne, rose oil and orange peel. Get it at Williams-Sonomas nationwide this month, and hopefully by the time cooler season comes, some more Whole Foods.

(photo via Serious Eats slideshow)

The Food Label Debunker

2011-05-23T13:09:00.013-04:00

What a supermarket stroll it'd be if all genetically modified, unfairly traded and highly processed foods were the ones with bright colored labels. That will never happen. Now downloadable, though, there's an app that scans all nutritional information through an item's barcode, including trans fat, HFCS, artificial sweeteners and anything classified as personal allergens or dietary restrictions. (Gluten-free, vegan, they got you.)

Launched this month, Honest Label Foods is also working with the Organic Consumers Association and Non-GMO Project in an effort to provide details like country of origin, pesticides used and whether that fish came from genetically modified stock. It'll even define obscure ingredients, like butylated hydroxytoluene, and it's available free through the app store. Cheapest way to make Monsanto squirm, hands down.

Finger Lakes Enthusiast (Because it's cool.)

2011-05-20T14:48:00.010-04:00

"People disappear in the Finger Lakes." It's true, Jim Carrey. In fact, hearing that 17 second cameo on The Office made me reflect on how absurdly often I must reference the region. But it's because I owe my fascination with food to its farm savvy start-up culture, and my realization that local food is possible, even in cold climates. Read all about it every season through Edible Finger Lakes—this issue's all about the budding wine market up there, including a story on three schools training next year's cellar hands, vintners and sommeliers.

And here's a full-on grub-and-wine trail in Edible Manhattan's latest. (See: The April Bloomfield of these parts, a farmer's market with a 30-mile vendor limit and wine rivaling German and South African stock.)

A Sweet Cake Called Moon

2011-05-19T11:51:00.020-04:00

Far from the consumer procession of chowder, rotisserie and "Canna help someone herrre?" that is Boston's Quincy Market, a friend and I nestled into Great Taste in Chinatown, where the owners snapped beans at a back table while a waiter brought a kettle of hot tea.

Dim sum of duck noodle soup and crab rolls and oyster-sauced rolls and fried taro all made for a table of inquisitive unearthing prodded through with chopsticks, an activity that goes so well with rain. When I think of times spent over some mixture of rice, broth and obscure flavors, there's often soaked faces and an umbrella under chair. But the most intriguing part of this meal—aside from the two-person, five-dish, $20-ish bill (that includes crab and duck)—came from the adjacent bakery within the restaurant: lotus seed cake, or mooncake.

It's a little golden block of pastry that looks like a thick square (sometimes round) butter cookie with ornamental engravings on the top—like some thicker, fancier version of Pepperidge Farm's Chessmen set, glossy yet crumbly. Mooncakes come glazed with duck egg yolk, though, and filled with mildly sweet paste—red bean, or in our case, lotus seed, a traditional ingredient used for its health-boosting rep. The pretty imprints usually stand for similar sentiments—longevity, harmony—making the cake a common offering to business clients, friends and family during Mid-Autumn Harvest Festival.

Or, like some kind of Chinese pick-me-up for those in the hustle of a city far from China, an unexpected treat that cracks and swooshes soft sweetness into your gums.

(photos via TamarB, yummyinthetummyblog)

Herb Jolly Rancher Elixir (or Something Like That)

2011-05-16T15:27:00.018-04:00

I spent the last 48 hours food crawling through Boston (to repeat: Eastern Standard, Great Taste, microbrew flights at John Harvard's, sampling Chinatown and the North End). But one of the more spirited moments came from something less than .05 percent alcohol—a botanic brew (officially classified as soda) that, like the teeny cars, preppy garb and cobble roads of the city that feels more London than American, harkens back to old English.

I'd heard of Fentimans first through one of my favorite food writers, who wrote of the drink that "dates back to the Middles Ages, when peasants would forage for plant roots and ferment them in earthen pots." So when I came across the purple bottle, I purchased immediately. It's packed with fermented medicinal herbs—dandelion and burdock, the little pronged flower that sticks like Velcro to unsuspecting sweaters. (It's a favorite of an herbalist I spoke to once because "it does everything," kind of like an equalizer for all your bodily imbalances.) Though this drink slants sweet, like liquid Jolly Rancher, the herbs bring a made-of-the-earth taste absent from most pop. It's a flavor you won't mind having fume out your nose as it filters through your system like a jumpy song through a crowd.

Hot Damn. Spicy Chocolate Extract

2011-05-11T10:46:00.004-04:00

These Taza people make serious chocolate. Serious, sustainably-sourced spicy good chocolate. A taste-test chunk at their New Amsterdam Market stand sent me into a high only reserved for the deepest darkest cacao around that, for the best, results in a sneeze of over-stimulation dubbed by reflexologists as, literally, an "orgasm of the face." This chocolate's stone-ground smooth and spiked with such spice as cinnamon, Guajillo chili, pepper and ginger. To say that this euphoric attack of the senses needed any up to its ante, a concentration imbued with alcohol, cinnamon, almonds and pumpkin seed oil, is cruel to chocoholics.

Enter drip form, an extract akin to vanilla for baking and cocktails, a collaboration with small-batch Bittermans, Inc., maker of serious cocktail bitters the likes of habañero, hopped grapefruit and mole. Pass the IV, please.

Conscious Carnivores

2011-03-10T11:45:00.002-05:00

Meatless Mondays, veganism, butchery fascination: no matter the cultural paradox, they're all a move towards more conscious consumption of meat. Whether because I'm type O or my grandfather came from a family of butchers, there's meat in my blood. Not every day, maybe not even every week, but a well-raised piece of meat—lamb, pork, beef, what have you—is a beautiful primal thing.

I love that today we have the option to substitute other foods for our main diet, but like any other animal, we still crave what we can catch. We may no longer need to quiver over a crossbow but we're no less tied to the source. I won't link to factory farm videos; those horrors are readily available. I'd rather share some stories about people doing the right thing: butchers sourcing solely from organic farms and teaching restaurant owners how to make their own cuts; the king of nose-to-tail eating; and a pig-to-pork farmstead with a charcuterie CSA. It's all in Edible Manhattan's "Good Meat" issue on stands now. (See photos I took while on assignment here, if you're curious how pigs keep warm and what an efficient bacon slicer looks like.)

Even some vegetarians agree that if they could just find a humanely raised animal, they'd eat meat too. It's good for the land to pasture animals; it's good for animals to eat good pasture; and for some, harvest of a prime long-lived-and-loved animal is a luxury. As my late great uncle believed as a butcher (above in the family's Harrison, NY store), a few extra sausages for customers in need during recessions got families through to next week. To him, good meat and the people who treat it right.

Garden Plan 2011, and a Kale Named Ragged Jack

2011-03-06T11:14:00.018-05:00

As warmer temps bring rain not snow, and the last of the ice patches melt away from the ground, I'm starting to plan what'll go into my now-green-again yard. Tomatoes, basil and zucchini, of course, but I'm also dreaming of things I haven't grown yet, like avocados and potatoes, and as my head swells grander, orange groves and olive trees. But then there's rare heirlooms I haven't touched either, like King of the North Peppers and Iroquois Cantaloupe, both natives of New York, or Clemson Spineless Okra, Black Beauty Eggplant, Amish Deer Tongue Lettuce and Ragged Jack Kale that grows frilly and soft. They're all varieties unlikely stocked in a supermarket or even found in seed packets at garden supply stores, and may not have been available anywhere if we didn't continue to grow them.

The availability comes thanks to Ken Greene and Doug Muller, who started a seed-saving library in the Hudson Valley that now catalogs more than 150 varieties (60 of which were grown locally) with a goal to have 100% sourced from New York by 2014. Similar organizations are based in San Francisco, Iowa, and Arizona. And according to the Farmers' Almanac 2011, now's the time to start prepping pots indoors to be ready to plant come April or May, or whenever the ground seems warm enough for seedlings to spend the night.

(Photo by Liz Kuball, for sale at 20x200)

Behind: "Creating a Buzz," for Edible Manhattan

2011-01-17T14:38:00.022-05:00

When I called up new distillery owner Ed Tiedge for a tour, he must have wondered how long I thought it would take. The space is slightly bigger than a decent garage, but plenty cases of his already award-winning, NYC-bartender-approved honey vodka and gin have made their way across Manhattan and Westchester County since it opened in August. It's the county's first distillery since Prohibition and one of only a handful in a state that once claimed more than a thousand.

It didn't hurt that it opened right off the marina in my hometown, formerly known as Sawpit for the ship-building scraps of early settlers. I think they (and Prohibition-era residents) would be proud of the new exports. Port Chester once housed the Lifesaver building and keeps people coming back for chili-cheese-topped Hubba's hot dogs and classic Italian dishes from the Tarry Lodge, a century-old restaurant newly revived by Batali-Bastianich with an adjacent market some might call a mini-Eataly.

Read the full story on Comb Vodka and Comb 9 Gin, including why it's never been easier to start up a distillery, in the current (all alcohol) issue of Edible Manhantan on stands at these fine places. (Or subscribe for a free trial.)

(Photographs by Brooklyn-based Max Flatow)

Just 'Cause I Haven't Been Here in a While, and It's the Holidays, and This Is Too Cute.

2010-12-17T11:33:00.013-05:00

The full story of the Heavens and the Earth told in dough and sprinkles, here.
(Artist: Christoph Niemann / NYT)

And on that note, I'm making a resolution to stop neglecting this blog. Since the reason I haven't been here is because I've been writing professionally elsewhere, I thought I could share some of the stories behind the stories, here. I've met some great people with some great start-ups making amazing products, like a roasted squash seed oil from spent seeds, a no-waste solution that happens to taste really good too.

Till 2011, a cookie book you might like.
Jessie

Celebrity Chefdom

2010-09-16T15:44:00.010-04:00

While watching one of the many food competitions that grazed the air waves last night, as I watched the winner announced with a book deal and a quarter-million dollars, I wondered what fame would come of this. Would this newly reigned celebrity chef take root in the real food world; does a quick rise to celebrity chefdom grant respect? And, in return, what would these shot-to-fame individuals bring to the table?

Last night in Los Angeles, the city known for birthing celebrity chefs (Wolfgang Puck, arguably the first), a panel set out to discuss these mounting issues. LA Weekly food critic Jonathon Gold, the token "belly of Los Angeles," moderated a gathering of LA's celebrity chefs for the panel, "Are Celebrity Chefs Good For Food?"

On Eater.com, Daniela Galarza recaps the night, noting an interesting change in the focus of culinary students. Says Gold: "I go to culinary schools and when I ask the students why they want to be a chef, they're talking about television and The Food Network." The panel agreed.

For every entrepreneur that's seen a rise in business after a media appearance, there's a mogul who's risen to fame much slower, and remains no-less powerful, without the immediate aid of television. "What's lasting is the work of your own two hands," Eater reports from the panel. "Overall, the panel seemed to agree that enthusiasm and skill used to prevail as assets for television, until more recently, in today's reality show driven line-up of shows, when personality and youth -- the antithesis of experience -- began to rule."

Then a question from the audience -- "I just saw Food, Inc...what do you think a chef's role is in all that?" -- prompted a discussion of the power experienced chefs hold in tackling issues like seafood safety and the local food movement.

"One of the best things about having celebrity as a chef is to be able to influence the buying patterns of the public in a positive way," responds a panelist, as paraphrased by Eater. The resounding agreement landed on Jamie Oliver -- he has "the skill, personality, business acumen, and drive...in many ways, the panel agreed, he is the ideal celebrity chef."

Read more on the panel's discussion: Eater.com

Summer Compromise

2010-07-10T17:35:00.022-04:00

This morning there was a little bird contemplating in my driveway—not even disturbed by a moving car coming right for him. I had to finally get out, bend down and ask him what he was doing. At which point he moved to a safe place on the sidewalk to watch me pass by like an old friend. Peering behind a bush, he seemed human.

Deep in the throes of summer, a rolling storm brings relief. Grandma feels it’s cool enough to eat outside again. She cleans the back porch table, wiping and swiping with a damp cloth, the vinyl scratching with resistance. Inside, I’m cutting garlic, both hands atop the knife, thumb curled under, rocking side to side as the garlic cubes up smaller and smaller. All goes into the bowl now, sloshing with tomato and basil and olive oil: suspended, glass-flat bubbles in tomato juice. Sliced ham; broccoli on boil: lunch feels near ready. Outside, the tomatoes can finally shine, like a bowl of edible jewelry.

Is it fresh rain or the wet leaves I feel through the screen, blowing off last night’s pour? In the murky weather, a plate of steaming broccoli is fine. Eyes can rest from squinting; the high sun is gone. Maybe that’s what the bird was doing stuck in the gravel, stuck in thought, in reprieve, wondering where the pummeling humidity had gone. Seems all of nature is wiped clean, calm.

I soak a pocket of bread with tomato juice and layer in ham. Blinds tied back with rope to let the wind in makes me think of somewhere else; the arching, peeling, sky blue wooden ceiling on the back deck roof like the inside of a rocking boat. Cracking peanuts, craving mollusks, I feel water splash on my foot; no, grandma spilled her ice tea—deepening the dark red benches and beading up on the house siding’s vinyl wood.

Food Movers Q&A: Director, Louisiana Seafood Promotion & Marketing Board, Ewell Smith

2010-06-30T14:04:00.049-04:00

Food Movers is a new Zest & Thyme Q&A column that puts you in touch with some of our country's most prominent gastronomic "movers and shakers." Our premiere Food Mover is Ewell Smith, a Louisiana native entering his tenth year this December as the Director of the Louisiana Seafood Promotion and Marketing Board, and whose grandfather ran a shrimp company for fifty years.

The Gulf waters' varying temperatures and salinity levels have long been an ideal breeding ground for some of the country's most prized seafood, which spawn and grow rapidly in its hot tub-like estuaries. The oil spill has caused understandable frustration and apprehension to eating Gulf seafood, but Smith is here to tell us why he, and many NOLA chefs, are still hopeful---namely, for some new programs that will get everyone involved in the relief efforts, including an SOS Abita Pilsner.

Zest & Thyme: The Louisiana Seafood Promotion and Marketing Board launched in 1984---what were the conditions then?
Ewell Smith: The industry started to realize that they needed to market their product if it was going to exist for the future, and that challenge is not far different than the challenge they face today. Our biggest challenge that we’re being faced with is a perception problem, aside from the initial impact of the disaster. For long-term recovery for us, the challenge we’re faced with is a perception problem. And our brand, Louisiana Seafood, our Gulf seafood, is getting beaten up pretty good around the country because people don’t really understand; they think we’re being shut down all together, which we’re not. We still have 80% of our shores open now. That could change [understanding laugh], but right now 80% of our shores are open. And the other part is people are afraid to eat seafood from this area, and there’s a little bit of irony in that because right now our waters are being tested at unprecedented levels, probably being more scrutinized now than ever in the history of this country. Our seafood is probably the most inspected product in this country.

Was there any justification in the near-ban of warm weather Gulf oysters late last year? That seemed ridiculous because they've been eaten for years.
That was going to really hurt us bad. I mean, they were going to try to shut down any production; we wouldn't be able to sell those oysters around in markets around the country. And that was going to kill us because we have to get that product at the marketplace, and when you lose your product in the marketplace, it's very difficult to get back.

You said 80% of the shores are still in operation---the rest of the 20% is shut down---so this is where the testing is being done?
Yup, there are samples taken from that area and, so far, there’s a clean bill of health on all of it. That’s very good news for us.

Wow, that’s amazing---you don’t hear much of that.
Right, [laughs]. Well, good news doesn’t try very well.

And could you describe the testing process of the seafood before it goes to market?
Each agency [FDA, EPA, NOAA, Louisiana Department of Wildlife and Fisheries, and the Louisiana Department of Health and Hospitals] does their testing. They do a variety of things---they test the waters and then they test the product, and they do random samplings, constantly. And they’re doing this hourly, across the board. And they’ll be doing this; I know NOAA and the FDA has set up extra labs which will be here for a long time to address this. After the spill’s long gone, long after they cap this, they’ll be doing this for years, because we need to ensure the integrity of our product. From day one, priority number one has been the safety of our consumer.

If the spill were to stop today, could places like P&J’s Oyster House get back on their feet?
Well P&J, believe it or not, they’re not shucking but they’re still sourcing product. But they’re not shucking anymore because it just didn’t make any sense. Their traditional business model just didn’t work for them anymore so they had to back off on the shucking. We have plenty of product, that’s the thing---we don’t have enough fishermen catching the product. Many of our fishermen have been pulled aside to do cleanup work, which is equally important. We need both, though.

And what was your initial reaction on the ground when the spill broke out? As you said, fishermen, chefs, everyone was pitching in. You weren’t exactly waiting around to see what BP was going to do.
My reaction when this happened? Oh...when I saw the rig fall in the water [his speech slows down], I knew we were in trouble right then and there. And I was surprised to see how long the response was. You know, we started working, we got on it—I just knew something wasn’t right.

Rightfully so, there’s a lot of hatred towards BP—they definitely screwed up; they didn’t take appropriate preventative measures—but do you feel like, today, they’re doing everything they can?
I suspect they're trying to do everything that they believe they can at this point in time. I don’t believe it’s a $20 billion problem; I believe it’s a lot bigger. I believe it's a $100 to $200 billion problem.

And do you see people filing claims? But you feel the financial aid package is not going to cut it?
I don’t know, I don’t know how they’re going to mitigate all of it. What they’re doing right now, if you’re filing a claim and you have an emergency claim (you need money now), and you can prove that, they’re going to give you two to three to four months’ payments to carry you through. But once they cap that well, then they’re going to sit down with you again, and they’re going to provide a long-term payment, one big lump-sum. How they determine how much that is, I don’t know. But the thing is, with the emergency payment, you’re not waiving your rights to follow with a suit. With the one lump-sum, big payment at that point in time, you will waive your rights to sue.

There is that one chef that is suing.
Yea, we talked about that on the radio [WWL] this morning. She’s saying she can’t get product; that’s not entirely accurate. We have product in the marketplace. Is it more difficult to source the product because things have tightened up? Yes. But we have product available…and she can’t get product? The rest of the restaurants in this city are shakin’ their head on that one.

So you don’t think her doing that is doing any good.
It really hurts us because what happens is, the message gets out that we’re out of product, and we have product. And on a national level, she’s been getting national press on that, and that’s not the message we need to get out right now, because we do have product and the restaurants depend on that product to do their marketing as well. People come to Louisiana to eat Louisiana seafood---they don’t come here to eat chicken. [Laughs]

What happens behind the Board?
The board represents all the fishermen and all the processors in the state. So from day one, it’s our job to keep and maintain these markets. Our team meets daily to figure out what the needs are that day. We just launched Friends of the Fishermen to raise money, and our goal is to raise $100 million. And your Facebook account has been posting photos from relief events with chefs feeding cleanup workers and fisherman families.
We just announced that event. We let the chefs come in, and now what we’re going to do is, we’re going to work with those chefs [Tom Colicchio, Rick Tramonto, Sursur Lee, Charles Carroll, Rick Moonen, John Folse, Dean Fearing] that came in; we’re going to go to their individual markets [New York, Chicago, Toronto, Dallas, Vegas], and we’re going to do press runs and spread the word, because they learned what the real issues were and they can help us spread the positives.

There’s also an “SOS” campaign with New Orleans-beloved Abita beer [which gave over half a million dollars in relief after Hurricane Katrina].
Yea, we kicked this off with four business partners to start—Abita beer, Entergy, the Hornets and Rouse’s, which is a huge supermarket known throughout the state.

Are you a naturally optimistic person?
Yes, absolutely. We have to stay hopeful. A situation like this is taken day-by-day, ‘cause it could change every day. And we just have to make the best of what we’re given.

And can you speak to the natural stewardship of the land?
Well the coastlines, the marshes of Louisiana, are a national treasure. It's important that they remain open and we rebuild these estuaries back to where they were fifty years ago because they’re disappearing at a very rapid pace. And they’re the breeding grounds, the nurseries, for our fisheries. And we provide 30% of seafood to the continental U.S.

Even before the oil spill, there’s been talk of destruction of the waters, not necessarily by fault of Louisiana but of the nation’s inorganic run-off wrapping into the Gulf.
There’s always going to be issues; as long as we can continue to restore our waters. These issues are huge, but the Gulf is also huge. And there’s an old saying: the solution to pollution is at the root of dilution. And the Gulf is massive, and the reason we have 80% of our shores open is because it is so big. The spill hasn’t gotten into the area as much as we thought it would have. Now, I am---I’ll be very candid---I am a little concerned about the tropical storms or the hurricane that’s coming through now. It could change everything over the weekend, or it might help us, we don’t know. We just don’t know. It’s the uncertainty—like you said, I’m naturally optimistic—but the uncertainty does create…stress. [He exhales into a laugh.] All you can do is work with what you got. And that’s what our goal is, to continue to do that.

For more information on Louisiana seafood safety and how to lend support, head to Louisiana Seafood News, Friends of the Fishermen and the SOS campaign, where every bottle of "Charitable Pilsner" Abita beer, sold in 41 states, dontates .75 cents to the cause.

(images courtesy of the Louisiana Seafood Promotion and Marketing Board)

Pennsylvania Opens Carding at Wine Kiosks

2010-06-26T11:24:00.000-04:00

If you want to get a beer in Pennsylvania, even a non-alcoholic beer or a dignified, drink-while-you-dine bottle of wine, don't go looking for a quick pickup to go with your hot dogs (err, baguette and brie?) at your local supermarket. Pennsylvanians will tell you: yep, this U.S. state is one of 19 with a strict liquor code, this one prohibiting spirit and grub to be sold in the same space. You'd have to source from a limited array of licensed restaurants, bars and spirit shops, or a grocer who's decided to invest in an adjacent boutique. Until now.

A new wine kiosk program, launched Wednesday by The Pennsylvania Liquor Control Board (PLCB) under a trial period at a Wegmans in Mechanicsburg and a Giant Food Store in Harrisburg, will offer customers the chance to self-service their wine purchases at wine cooler-linked, supermarket kiosks located mere feet from food items. And under new legislation enacted yesterday, the Governor has given the official go-ahead.

Rest assured, you'll still need to whip out and swipe the ol' ID (a remote PLCB employee will be onlooking via video to confirm your of-legal-age mug), and get the windpipes ready for a built-in breathalyzer---no germs, they promise; your BAC can be detected from up to a foot away by blowing into an opening in the kiosk, no lip-wrapping required. If it reads passed the state's "no tolerance" limit of .02, it's a no-go. Put away the dough, and try again later.

The Pennsylvania-based Simple Brands LLC-designed vino vendys will have 53 temperature-controlled wines available at a time, which are subject to change based on consumer demand per area. Current labels on the stock list include Barefoot Merlot, Cavit Pinot and Yellowtail Cabernet. Hours of operation mimic the state's law of liquor availability: 9am-9pm, Monday through Saturday (sorry, still no holidays). Also akin to the statewide policy are the prices: you'll pay the same for a particular bottle from one kiosk or shop as you will another, explains a PLCB rep, all averaging between $5.99 and $22.99.

If all goes well, the program may extend throughout the state with at least 100 participating supermarkets dotting the west side this August and rolling out to state lines by October. So keep up your best self-serve behavior, and you may soon enjoy the freedom of one-stop, booze-and-grub shopping. Simply provide the right BAC and ID, and unlock the cooler doors to liquor liberation.

Check the kiosks in action through this consumer video via Retail Customer Experience.

When life gives you too many lemons, make granita.

2010-06-06T14:07:00.020-04:00

It's officially summer when car windows anxiously start to drop, radios brashly competing in a temporarily patient phase where all this blunderous, noisy haze is a bright sign of the once-again, long-awaited liberation from long sleeves: our elbows inch out over the window rim and say, "bring on driver's tan!"

It's officially summer when strawberries come home in tiny wooden crates, their stems still there from picking---grab a handful by the tails, quickly rinse, and nibble while they're still warm. How will you know they're ripe? Red juice will stain the crates and drip down to your elbows; you'll suck, drinking as much as you're eating, barely biting the tender fruit all the way to their flowered green tails.

Another sign of summer: renewed resourcefulness. Long past comforting winter soups, we are again excited to be creative with food. Which brings me to this bunch of lemons that have been sitting in my fridge. When life gives you a bunch of neglected lemons, and it's officially summer, buy fresh mint and make granita.

The Italians have been serving this semi-frozen treat for years, varying from a cappuccino substitute for hot mornings (think iced coffee) to a liquored up, late-night cool-down, but like most Italians I've decided to use it as a way to use up my crop.

Add a little sugar, fresh mint leaves, honey and some fruit preserves (I have blackberry) to a shallow pyrex of one parts fresh lemon juice to two, three or more parts water, directly proportioned to how awkward lemon makes your face squint. Swoosh it all around, plastic-wrap it, and set it in the freezer---but don't forget it! Every hour or so, bring it out and take a peek. If it's starting to freeze, even just slightly with a thin layer of ice over the top, take a fork and do some more swooshing---agitate it; don't let it rest. The idea of granita is to let it gradually semi-freeze, somewhere between ice-pop and slushy.

By the end of a three-to-four hour period, or once your semi-frozen juice is good and chunky, it's time for a final scraping and a scooping. Then, take it in your hands (okay, in a bowl) and lap up the tart, sticky crystals and sweet clusters of honey and fresh fruit, letting it all melt and trickle its über-Vitamin C-goodness down your throat. Some like to top it off with ricotta, cream, more fresh fruit and/or something fizzy, but whatever your preferred fixing, a good scoop of this will surely quench your impatience for the summer's blundering.

A version of this piece later appeared on Salon.com as part of a "Guest Chef" series.

Walk with me down this crooked old street.

2010-04-26T12:32:00.021-04:00

And it all looks like nothing to me now; give me beauty, even when tragic.

I'm just another American who wishes she was in Europe, wishes she had the courage to leave capitalism for the uninsured. So nosed in Gourmet archives, I reach the closest thing---an issue devoted to the good living in Italy. The tiny-shop stories and the old-motherly-cook stories and the simple-yet-righteously-selected-recipe stories---many cliché but all comforting, like something we never had but feel like we've lost, possibly over generations across the ocean.

I want to feel the need to cry at night because I live in a place full of cascading, unpredictable emotions and honest turmoil, where the only way to eat squid is to buy it live and chop it up yourself. An empty, white nook of a kitchen, foggy light coming in. The knife is black, steel; the fish slips, then splits with a plunk; I laugh at the shock of simplicity; the hot oil snaps, sizzles, fumes.

Here, Love is not scary, it's noted luck, a respite from day-to-day strife and honest hard work. It is on which we sustain life. It should not be shied away or deceived. Because only those who hold it by chance will have it for eternity. The best lovers are not winners but those who know just how easily they can lose.

Pears perspire on formica now on the Jersey shore. They'll wait forever; I'm not ready to move.

(image via erin m, flickr)

Sure-fire, Sugar High

2010-03-31T10:40:00.004-04:00

How-To Eat a Grapefruit:

Chill short wine glass for later.

Split grapefruit in half and razor out segments, freeing them for concentric scooping. Dribble-drop honey across its face, glazing the top of each bite. Clockwise or counter, segment by segment, spoon out every last pink, beaded diamond from its pouch. Nourishing with juice, tart, then cloying with sticky, smooth auburn sugar. Segment by segment, till you've emptied out all its pockets.

Wait, don't dare chuck that rind--save the juice!

Rescue wine glass, now frosted. Take grapefruit in palm and squeeze it for all it's worth; turn 180º if you have to. Fill the rest with Ginger Ale. Bring back the honey and finish off the rim like candy--don't dribble; dab. Ok, now sip away.

Disclaimer: I am not a trained mixologist, but some alcohol might make this drink feel even better.

Note: While I just sat enjoying this by itself, after the unique labor that is eating a grapefruit, I planned to set it up with thymed lamb or fried dough.

Fort Defiance: The Ultimate Slow Brunch

2010-03-14T15:20:00.036-04:00

One o'clock on a Saturday, at the corner of Van Brunt and Dikeman in Red Hook, Brooklyn, a tired dog pretends to stand guard over Fort Defiance. It may be named after a Brooklyn-based Revolutionary War fort but no one's fooled. This café-bar welcomes traipsers, at all hours and states: just-woken, hungover, coupled or with child.

Inhabiting the spirit of a loyal homeland's man and wise traveler, it's not hard to get to know this place. No one can put a finger on it, but it's a little bit old American and a little bit New Orleans, with the pace of a European. Wide-open windows, masculine dark wood, and blue walls frame the space of rivet-rimmed, multi-colored table tops and selective, small dishes that read like souvenirs.

Owner-bartender (and writer) St. John Frizell takes cues from his eight year stay in the Crescent City for his perfectly-fed muffuletta, bridging salty and satiated. Spicy-sweet, cured meat layers into a half-saturated, half-airy focaccia with sharp cheese, olives, and just enough dressing to plate-dribble between bites and occasionally lick salty herbs from your fingers.

Fresh-drip coffee and time-honored cocktails fill the drink list---from morning till night---as well as fizzy drinks for the alcohol-prohibited. A seltzer, staking its claim as “the best in Brooklyn,” pumps from an old-fashioned soda fountain at the bar. Most of the produce comes from a community garden right down the road and the bread is made daily.

Caught up in the unpretentious slow pace, I was ready to set up camp for the rest of the afternoon. The staff is not rushed and you shouldn't be either. Outside the unscreened wooden windows, the dirty tide brings chilled air and hipsters heeling German Shepherds across cobble. So drink slowly, the day will catch up with you later.

You're banning what?

2010-03-12T13:56:00.042-05:00

I just need to take a moment here because this week's been a little strange. No more bake sales in NYC public schools, but you can inhale chocolate. You may be allowed to serve breast milk cheese, just so long as there's no salt.

I love food. As a kid, I would stare up at the kitchen table while my mom mixed cake batter hoping she'd let me get in on the act. I felt energy in the room, life in the whipping and stirring, as I watched each cupcake tin slowly fill with swirling lumps of uncooked flour, butter, eggs. I was eventually promoted from taster to stirrer. Then measurer, then baker. As kids, we had to understand the process first, before being trusted with greater tasks. And we were patient, enjoying the complexity of each step as it came.

I think our biggest problem with food is not underregulation, but hastily misconception. Perhaps, too much security, too much distance, leading to ass-backward quick fixes and undigestible attempts at sterilization (i.e. unhealthily kept livestock that need antibiotics, which are in turn unhealthy for us). The city of New York has recently banned bake sales in public schools on the presumption that parents won't be able to follow the schools' new nutrition laws. (A homemade-yet-unmarked brownie could be an untraceable cause of illness as opposed to a nutrition labeled candy bar.)

Now the state has looked to banning salt use in restaurants, an impatient move from a campaign to reduce sodium to a full cut off. I'm wondering how they'd even regulate such an extreme law, with a penalty of $1,000 per sprinkling.

Dear State of New York, did you even consult chefs, or scientists, for that matter? Salt is used at different stages of the cooking process---not for taste, but to enhance other flavor profiles, or to react with yeast to slow down fermentation in baking; to preserve meat or cure fish by extracting water so that bacteria can't nest. Without salt, you can't make bread. I learned this at age five, when I took on the task of measuring.

Now two days past the salt ban proposal, though, I think the absurdity has actually been retracted. The bill-proposer, Brooklyn assemblyman Felix Ortiz, says his intention was to "prohibit the use of salt as an additive to meals. If salt is a functional component of the recipe, by all means, it should be included." Precisely. That's what campaigns are for, even percentage restrictions; bans are for fatal things like Ractopamine.

I'm wondering why food has become so confusing. As a food writer and slow food advocate, I feel, not overwhelmed but insatiable. I feel like I'm constantly playing catch-up in a world so at odds about food. I do know this: Good food is simple. It may not be predictable but what it needs is understanding, a little common sense, some slack for error, reflection, and reasonable precaution---not supplements or simulants.

Regulations are important, but can we step back and understand the process first? Maybe it's because we're a country without a distinct food identity. We've been influenced by so many cultures, but haven't a full grasp on our own land's bounty. Like a diner: so much variety, but rarely authenticity. So much information, but little of it grounded. Among the food cultures of the world, we are teenagers.

Basically, I keep this in mind: too much fat is not good, but a little natural fat (i.e. avocados) is good for the brain. Neither is too much sugar, but natural sugars (appearing in fruit) convert to essential starches for the body. Carbs (a.k.a. wheat) provide long-term fuel; if we can't use it all up, the body will store it. That's not a reason to ban carbs from your diet; you just need better regulation. Most of this, we don't know we already know; our ancestors have passed down useful cooking traditions. Our land is plentiful, but too plentiful (i.e. corn monopolized supermarkets) is not good.

What I'm getting at here is balance. Measuring. Weighing. Understanding. And it all starts with curiosity---the want to know. Once you know, once you're in control, cooking and eating is like music; you can effortlessly fall into the rhythm of the song---with confidence to throw in your own staccatos.

Hey, Mr. NYT Man

2010-02-16T12:29:00.017-05:00

I only have a few cookies left in my hand and the NYT just plucked one. They've published a sloppy, presumptuous article in this Sunday's business section pegging the local foods movement as an unrealistic fad. And like any good food writer, instead of spewing milk at them like I want to, I'm using my words.

Just this past year, there has been such encouraging media attention given to the movement towards better food: The White House is on board, Michael Pollan has made face with the mainstream, and Food, Inc. is recognized with Oscar par. So I'm happy. I'm not here to preach. I find myself doing too much of that these days, since I've recently relocated from an optimistic, near self-sustaining food community, eating almost exclusively local food, back to one where an "organic" label from Mexico is golden and "locavore" is just the new word for "hippy." And this is the exact attitude I hear in this NYT article. If it had a face, I'd want to slap it.

Instead, I'd like to take it on a drive to the snow-covered hills of central New York, i.e. the Finger Lakes, where for the last three and a half years I've eaten well and enjoyed the quality of life that comes with eating local, all year round. City clusters are surrounded by farmland, fostering local communities and economies. Root vegetables, meats, grains and cheeses are expected in winter; fruits and spring vegetables are celebrated with the arrival of warm weather. You start to recognize the people who grow your food, who are available for instant feedback at the farmers' market. The natural ebb and flow of the seasons is comforting, while both the farmer and the consumer are supported.

But here in lower Westchester, where we live with the same agricultural potential, life doesn't revolve around food. Understandably, we have fast-paced lives, and I hear the need for entertainment. I understand that not everyone is aware of the problems with our current food system or, if they are, can barely see the possibility for change. And the change is in no way simple or easy. And that's discouraging. We limit our news intake to twitter snippets these days and there's plenty to worry about.

But food used to be our primary, if not sole, concern. How many of us dream of a trip to Europe where we'll taste the most authentic food we've ever had (smoked meats, aged cheeses, seasonal produce) and meet the growers and producers that are more impassioned about their work than anyone we know? I'm personally tired of people telling me it's not possible to live this way here, for our country to prioritize food the way others do. Historically, the quality of a culture was viewed by what it was eating. By these standards, mainstream America is among the poorest in the world. I'd rather eat in the backstreets of China, where cheap, good quality food is easier to find than in the abundant supermarkets of suburban America.

But for fear of becoming a hyperbolic cynical revolutionary, I'm reminding myself that the game has already changed. Just within this week, two new GM corn varieties resigned and organic livestock was granted the legal right to graze.

Thank You, Gourmet

2009-11-24T12:54:00.011-05:00

A class visit this past spring led to an interview, which led to the call of every food writing student’s dream: “We’d like to offer you a summer internship.” This moment should have made me anxious, but I didn’t at all feel the pressures I had expected. I felt as if I were about to join people who saw the world as it was. This half floor of Condé Nast was a safe, sane place—devoid of devils in Prada, unrealistic expectations, and flashy consumer-driven agendas. A place for the sharing and swapping of stories and recipes. Of debating and supporting and goofing around with one another—a composite of attitudes you’d find in someone’s home and the ‘back of the house.’

Ruth Reichl seemed to have created an atmosphere with every possible personality type, staffers deriving from very different backgrounds—educations, career paths, cultures. Literary types mixed with culinary experts. Editors who’d been there way before Ruth and those who’d joined just a year ago. Texas, New Orleans, California, Tennessee could all be traced back as hometowns. Part-time farmers, former chefs, and even a former man-of-Wall Street.

Business casual was very interpretive. I went in with the pencil skirt and preppy, bow-tied sweater, but quickly learned that jeans and a simple button-down made more sense. One editor, a former poet and culinary school grad, mostly wore band t-shirts. He could write, fast and well, and he knew food. Honest, with a sense of humor. And that’s what mattered.

Downstairs, in the kitchens, it was chef coats all the way, but the food was anything but straight-laced. A new web feature, The Test Kitchen Challenge, had the test kitchen chefs facing off to create both a savory and a sweet dish for a specially chosen ingredient. The first, avocado, was mixed with agar agar, set into straws, and sent to the freezer to make avocado pasta, topped with onions and tomato—an appetizer of deconstructed guacamole. “Sweeet,” the chef’s voice inclined, excited as the avocado squeezed smoothly out of the straw to form a perfect noodle. The second dish involved an avocado mouse that was set to a creamy, airy crème brulée.

As an intern this summer, I worked under the supervision of their Special Projects Editor, Jacqueline Terrebonne. Along with overseeing major public relations, her main job was manning the Gourmet Cookbook Club and the new public television show, Gourmet’s Adventures with Ruth (premiered October 17th and scheduled to continue). Picking cookbooks for the Cookbook Club was a complete democratic decision. Everyone took the selections home—not just the test kitchen chefs, but the food editors, interns, editorial assistants. Everyone. And if everyone didn’t love them, they didn’t make it.

The same went for the recipes developed for the magazine. When the test kitchen chefs felt like they were on to something, a “taste” would be called. We’d get a phone call upstairs to come on down, grab a plate and hash it out. Good? Cross-test it, and we’ll try it again. Each station was set up exactly like a home kitchen, with the technical capacity of a tiny apartment and only ingredients the average home cook could easily access.

Jacqueline gave me more than a window’s view. I was able to research for the show and test recipes for the cookbooks. But besides the technical experience, she led an example for good work ethic. Before getting down to business, she will always ask you how things are going, how you’re doing. Over the phone, she’ll ask colleagues how their family is doing. And when it comes down to deadline, she’s completely clear-eyed, allowing for the productivity of a major magazine with the heart of a small one. I have so much to thank her for. To thank all of them for.
Ruth was in and out of the office all summer, traveling for the new show. But upon her arrivals, she always had something to share. Back from Tennessee, she gave Ian Knauer, one of the food editors, a packet of heirloom corn seeds for his garden. This was the day he introduced himself and offered me some as well. “I heard bunnies got to your crop of corn.” They had. He opened the packet and poured out a handful.

Daily tales of foraging, traveling, farming and straight home cooking were posted on the web—editors sharing their true love for food in all its intricacies, wonders and, sometimes, frustrations (e.g., cooking eggplant so that it doesn’t shred, brown or mush). That’s probably what I’ll miss most—getting behind the food, in every way.

My internship had ended in late August and I was back in upstate New York, finishing out my last semester at Ithaca College, when I got a disconcerting text message, “Did you hear about Gourmet?” I ran to a computer, found the Times article, and began to read the news. It was like reading an obituary.

Within days, the office was emptied out and the website was taken over—the subscribe button removed, ads added, and a message posted of Condé Nast’s plans to cease its publication. The fate of the website was left undetermined, recipes would be moved to epicurious.com, and subscriptions would automatically be switched to Bon Appétit—a gesture that could only be read as a slap in the face. I began copying my favorite recipes and articles from the web to keep my own archive.

Just walking in the offices of Gourmet this summer, you could feel an energy and an understanding for the way things are and the ways things could be. The way to get them done, and done right—not perfectly, but authentically, honestly. I never once felt like an outsider, unable to hang out with the editors. These are just people who love food and believe in its power. My mind boggled as I thought that all their work and plans, that a 68-year run, would be shut down to a halt, screeching from its pull on mid-2010. Just imagining my former supervisor’s face. No, there won’t be any Christmas cookies this year and there won’t be any more recipe testing. The major political story on tomato growers of March 2009 will be the last major political story they can share with the public.

I shifted from confusion to anger, from sadness to bewilderment, to hope. Because talent, passion, and prestige like this would find other outlets. They just wouldn’t be able to do it as a family.

You can find more Gourmet tributes at thankyougourmet.com.

Book Review: Pattern Factory

2009-09-23T14:25:00.005-04:00

Painted lace, paisley with skulls, inkblot glassware, and a numerically-wrapped one-seater sofa. Pattern Factory (released yesterday) reads like a museum of design, exhibiting a menagerie of sketches and graphics applied to our most contemporary garb and decor (i.e. the iconic Louis Vuitton bag).

You'll also find a chapter featuring Q&As with artists and pattern-makers in their studios. And at the end of the book, if you feel so inspired, there's a CD-ROM with 85 original, royalty-free patterns to fill your think tank.

Top Street Food in NY

2009-09-22T14:19:00.007-04:00

I stand corrected. This week at Gourmet, it's Street Food Week. And here are the best street vendors in New York. They've also tackled Philadelphia, Seattle, and Portland, OR. (Not Portland, ME, which was just highlighted in Bon Appétit and the New York Times, for its growing potential as the foodiest small town in America.)

Portland, ME vs. Portland, OR? The tough judging, I think, will come for the best street food in Southeast Asia (check back Thursday); the area's food is based on not much else, so pinpointing the best will not be easy.

(image via Gourmet.com)

Best Part of Summer

2009-08-19T10:39:00.008-04:00

The rain this summer has been such a killer for tomatoes, but somehow with this streak of sunny weather, they turned out just fine. Actually, I ended up with too many and decided to make sauce. And the surprise crop was...
Sunflowers! I still can't believe their size--seems to defy gravity.

How to Cook in a Hotel

2009-08-19T06:06:00.000-04:00

So, once upon a time, British comedian George Egg thought it a great idea to prove he could cook better than the fully-staffed room-service kitchen down below, and made himself dinner and breakfast using some resourceful tools found in his hotel room.
(via Serious Eats)

The Selby Paris Book

2009-08-18T11:19:00.002-04:00

Remember the Housing Works bookstore? Great, because it just received signed copies of Todd Selby's book, The Selby Paris, featuring his best Paris photos. This would be the book's second edition (only 600 copies printed in NYC); the first edition was released in Paris back in April.

Just like anything sold in Housing Works, proceeds for this will go to support AIDS relief. You can also buy it online, if you're not in New York.

Not Becoming My Mother

2009-08-17T13:16:00.000-04:00

On the last day of the internship at Gourmet, my mentor handed me a copy of editor-in-chief Ruth Reichl's new book, Not Becoming My Mother. Whether because of its petit, diary-like size or the notoriously frank and endearing voice of its writer, I finished the book in a single afternoon.

It mainly works to (1) tell her mother's story and (2) tell the story of so many other women of her mother's generation--bored, intelligent women with no available outlet. But no matter the time period, there is something universal in deciding whether to abide or avoid your mother's advice; to use her life as a model or a cautionary tale.

And Reichl does something we all wish we could do: envision our mothers pre-motherhood and learn to respect and understand their choices, whether we agree with them or not. An impression grounded from childhood, she notes, is hard to shake. Ain't it the truth?

The Moonwalk Tee

2009-08-17T10:05:00.000-04:00

I rarely buy tees, and I hardly buy anything considered "merchandise," but doesn't this shirt have a nice understated, respectful feeling to it? Sheer white jersey with black and white crystals, honoring the moment Jackson moonwalked live on stage for the first time.

(via Leigh)

Mad Men Premiere

2009-08-16T12:31:00.015-04:00

From the start, we knew this show would be big. With a writer from the Sopranos as its creator and the indulgently addictive time period of the 60s as its main character, how could it not? And now it's entering it's third season, tonight (AMC, 10pm).

To celebrate, Vanity Fair did a great spread in their September issue that bottles that smoky, vibrant tension between the leading couple--credit of Annie Leibovitz, of course. And you can also get a look behind the shoot.

P.S. Pair the premiere with one of these 1960s-style cocktails.

(via joanne)

Good to the Last

2009-08-12T13:53:00.006-04:00

It's my last week interning at Gourmet (crazy), but there's plenty to look forward to in September, like these recipes from the next issue--provolone popovers, pies, and peppercorn-roasted pork with vermouth. (Getting a theme here? More to say soon.)

P.S. Bartenders who farm.

The Sartorialist Book

2009-08-12T13:36:00.006-04:00

Street-fashion photographer, Scott Schuman (better known as The Sartorialist) has been working on a collective book to consolidate the best of his media- and fan-obsessed blog. And it finally hits bookstores, today. Pick up a copy or flip through this preview on A Cup of Jo.

Included are tidbits about the cultures he's captured (New York, India, and Sweden to name a few) and quotes from the people he's photographed (models, ex-drug dealers, polka dancers). More than just a great coffee table book.

(via A Cup of Jo)

Summer Snapshots

2009-08-07T15:54:00.007-04:00

Lori over on Automatism has a great, summer-long project going. Every Thursday (through September) she's featuring snapshots from other bloggers that illustrate summer at its best. Yesterday was my turn; you can check it out right here, if you'd like.

Enjoy your weekends! Any plans? This Sunday, I'm planning to do some free kayaking on the Hudson River. (Thanks for the tip, Joanna!)

Good Beer at BAM

2009-07-31T16:11:00.008-04:00

This past Wednesday, Edible Brooklyn and Edible Manhattan teamed up to host Good Beer at BAM, celebrating local brews much like a food and wine festival. Check out the video coverage from SkeeterNYC, and enjoy your weekends!

The Truck Farm

2009-07-29T12:18:00.005-04:00

Those awesome King Corn guys are at it again, with a truck farm. Watch their progress in video segments released throughout the summer. This one includes a delivery to NYU nutritionist, Marion Nestle.
They've also made the cover of Edible Brooklyn with this new project. And if you're near Red Hook, Brooklyn, you can sign up to buy some of their crops, too.

40 Farmers Under 40

2009-07-22T13:54:00.007-04:00

I just came across this list of up-and-coming young farmers in the U.S., including Jason Mraz (yes, apparently he loves avocados). The countdown was compiled after the USDA announced that the average farmer was a white male, ages 55 and up, and that young farmers, 18-35, were far and few.

(via Edible Finger Lakes)

August Pick

2009-07-15T12:53:00.004-04:00

This month's Gourmet cookbook selection has fruit all over it. And so did our test kitchen. P.S. It is now, officially, blueberry season.

Celebrating its 75th

2009-07-15T10:54:00.015-04:00

The Original Farmer's Market in L.A. turns 75 this week, and unlike the rest of the state, it has chosen to age gracefully (you can still sit on the old, rickety wooden-and-metal chairs and watch candy being made from scratch). Read here for more. It's really interesting to hear all the shop-owners' and residents' stories. Despite the name, however, it doesn't get the title of the oldest in the country; that, not-surprisingly, would have to go to this one in Lancaster, P.A. What about your nearby markets?

(images via The L.A. Times)

Wanted: Street Food

2009-07-13T17:08:00.009-04:00

Out of all the major cities, New York is definitely lacking good street food. But recently there has been a great influx of gourmet street carts and trucks in Manhattan. And this year's Citymeals-on-Wheels event, sponsored by Gourmet, featured a full-on street food theme with top chefs cooking up their own renditions of on-the-go eats.

So, I was so happy to see this interview on Lil' Bee with the operator of the Big Gay Ice Cream Truck, one of our newest additions. Ingredients include nutella, peppermint syrup and even wasabi.

Eat Cheap '09

2009-07-13T16:44:00.006-04:00

Every year, New York Magazine comes out with a special Eat Cheap issue--this year's undoubtedly being the most needed. As the cover would suggest, there are plenty of pizzas. Also, check out the cheapest spots for happy hours, fine dining, burgers and subs in the city.

P.S. Loved the little demonstration on how to eat pizza like an Italian.

Julie & Julia

2009-07-07T11:00:00.002-04:00

Is it surprising that I can't wait for this film to be released (a month from today on August 7)? It follows the true story of a woman with a goal to redo the work of Julia Child and document it through a blog, The Julie/Julia Project. Watch the trailer, below. And here's the blog that started it all.

Europeans in their Homes

2009-07-06T16:36:00.015-04:00

I love this on-going series by Dutch photographer, Bert Teunissen called Domestic Landscape. For over a decade, he has traveled across Europe to photograph the locals in their homes--from the Netherlands to Paris, Belgium, and even Japan. (I'd especially love to see inside their pantries.)
You can view the entire archive right here.

(via 20x200)

Nice Break?

2009-07-06T16:22:00.007-04:00

Hope you all enjoyed the holiday weekend! I spent it with some friends from out of town. And on the night of the 4th we camped out with a blanket, cards and Chinese food on a little space on 12th avenue between 40th and 42nd. Perfect view of the city's six barges. Where were you?

Also, check out this great new photograph from 20x200. It was taken on the lawn of the Truman Presidential Library in the humid summer weather of Independence, Missouri.

Enjoy the Holiday!

2009-07-03T09:17:00.003-04:00

Here are some red, white, and blue recipes, courtesy of Gourmet. Any interesting plans for the 4th?

P.S. Don't forget to enter for my first giveaway: a set of 2 vases. A winner will be selected this Sunday morning. Update: Congratulations, Emily!

Good Bread.

2009-07-02T10:40:00.009-04:00

Arguably, not everyone is into coffee. But, one thing you can't skimp on is good bread. It flakes, cracks and gets all over the place. And while it goes hard the very next day, all you have to do is give it some heat--throw it into the oven for 5 minutes or slice it up in a little hot oil for crostini.

Lately, I've had the goal to learn how to make good bread myself. Amy of Eggs on Sunday is working with the Bread Baker's Apprentice Challenge, making all homemade bread. So far, she's covered brioche, challah and ciabatta--and cinnamon rolls are next!

(images via Eggs on Sunday)

Kate Opens Shop

2009-07-01T14:50:00.007-04:00

Kate of For Me, For You just opened a new etsy shop with these gorgeous necklaces. She says her inspiration was childhood friendship bracelets with a grown-up twist. The shop opened just yesterday and the pieces have already sold out, so let her know if you have your heart set on one.

Good Coffee?

2009-07-01T11:40:00.007-04:00

There's a stipulation that New York City is behind on coffee. We certainly drink a lot of it, but the majority is not great. Starbucks? Burnt. Deli? Watery. There's a great article in Edible Manhattan, however, about the "third-wave" of coffee shops, like Ithaca's Gimme! Coffee, that are bringing better brews to the island.

P.S. A Latte Art Throwdown.

(images via gimmecoffee.com; news via Edible Finger Lakes)

The Cookbook Club

2009-07-01T10:44:00.010-04:00

Part of my internship at Gourmet is working with the Cookbook Club. Every month, a cookbook is selected and featured in the magazine with recipes to preview online. It's selected from hundreds that actually get tested at home by the staff of writers, editors and test kitchen chefs. This month's is A Table in the Tarn.

P.S. You can enter online for a chance to win the upcoming book before it's announced to the public. And a winner is selected everyday!

Word of Mouth

2009-06-29T13:48:00.012-04:00

I love these girls! Tina and Katie are the owners of Word of Mouth Catering in the Finger Lakes. Tucked in a little house in Trumansburg, NY, they source local ingredients from nearby farms and vineyards for events and weddings year-round.

At our Edible Finger Lakes contributers dinner, I remember having panko for the first time--a Japanese-style breadcrumb, which coated an oval of chèvre on a plate of fresh mixed greens. So good! Check them out on the latest Eating Ithaca podcast.

Monday Giveaway!

2009-06-29T11:31:00.010-04:00

Today, Zest & Thyme is having its first-ever giveaway! This set of Fangio vases (original price: $119) are hand cast and measure 15" and 19" in height. Would be perfect as a stand-alone piece or with flowers. Could keep both for yourself or give one away. Just leave a comment below to enter to win!

This giveaway comes from Bedroomfurniture.com, which also has a great selection of platform beds, accent furniture and mattresses. A winner will be notified via email by the end of the week. Good luck!

Update: Congratulations, Emily!

Taking Woodstock

2009-06-29T11:18:00.000-04:00

Forty years later, director Ang Lee tells the story of how the most memorable concert in history happened. Taking Woodstock hits theaters this August. Another understated gem from Focus Features.

Gourmet Gets Spiritual

2009-06-26T11:10:00.001-04:00

Gourmet writer, Robert Pincus just penned a piece for the web about travel that is simple and reinvigorating. Favorite line: "It was light enough to read outside until 11, and in the first warm weather in weeks this seemed like the best possible way to spend an hour."

Reminds me of camping out on a sliver of land in the middle of Saranac Lake, dirty and worn from two days of canoeing, with another day still ahead. I never felt so clear. Have you had any similar moments?

Up + Coming: Fernanda Cohen

2009-06-26T09:56:00.007-04:00

As promised here is a little piece of 3rd Ward: one of its teachers, Fernanda Cohen. Nine years ago she moved to New York from Buenos Aires, and since then has become an SVA graduate, a teacher, writer, advisor and an award-winning artist. Her work has been feautured in the New York Times, 20x200, and has even been turned into book covers, post-its and apparel.

So, you have such a range of accomplishments. Were all of these elements somehow in your original life plan?
It all happened gradually, more intensively in the past two years. It all kind of fell on my lap, like a domino effect, one thing led to another. So, the answer is no, it was not part of my life, but it quickly became who I am today as a professional.

And your client list is impressive as well (Dwell, Nylon, New York Times, to name a few). How do you get started with a new one?
Word of mouth, mostly, my Web site, and published work that works as self promotion. Most clients contact me directly, unless it's a contact I make through my agents in New York or London and, in that case, they contact me through them and then the client works with me directly.

You're from Buenos Aires and you say you travel back there sometimes three times a year. Does this do anything for your art, in terms of inspiration or frame of mind?
I think New York is fabulous as long as you leave once in a while. I leave about 6-8 times a year, which is more than enough. Buenos Aires is a great source of inspiration because it's home and it's a city full of a type of energy I understand very well. As artists we're inevitably influenced by our life experiences, including traveling, which I believe expands our vision of both the world and ourselves.

How did your style develop? It's very distinctive. Is it autobiographic?
I listened to all the feedback on the work basis I started with after I graduated from college- SVA that is. Clients, mentors and people in general. So I edited out whatever people didn't react to and kept whatever everyone seemed to love. Naturally, it wasn't so rational, but I can see it now.
What's your work space like? And how does this differ from your home space?
My studio is at home in what used to be the sunroom of our brownstone. It's long and narrow and it's cluttered with images, toys and books. It's lots of fun to look at and get lost in. The studio represents my little, personal chaos whereas home is civilized.

What has teaching done for you? Or, being part of 3rd Ward? Any revelations about what it takes to be an artist, or what artists starting out need to do at a time like this?
Teaching helped me become more aware of what had become second nature. It also made me more critical of my own work because I'm very critical of my students' work at both SVA and Third Ward. Being able to give back is a great feeling, especially because I'm very grateful for everything my professors and tutors taught me when I was first getting started.

Third Ward is a great art community I'm very proud to be part of. It puts me in touch with artists who're usually older, passionate and going out of their way to be there as an outlet, which is the best attitude ever.

As for being an artist, what I've learned is that you need to want to do this more than anything else in the world. You also need to be extremely dedicated besides being talented, and you need to have some business and networking skills ideally. Regardless of what's going on with the economy, the arts have always been hard to break into because it's very abstract and there are so many of us. However, there is always work to be found out there, we just have to find it.

Waiting for tomatoes, et al.

2009-06-24T14:51:00.004-04:00

The garden is coming along. This year: tomatoes, corn, basil, carrots and a surprise (that my dad refuses to give away). I can honestly say that I haven't willingly had a tomato since last summer, and I can't wait. I just have one question.

P.S. Is there anything you'll only eat off the vine?

The Artist Co-op

2009-06-24T10:09:00.006-04:00

During the start of the recession, a cooperative in Brooklyn called 3rd Ward became especially tactful in bringing relief to artists. Imagine a space where photographers, recording artists, jewelry designers and illustrators can work side-by-side with complete studio facilities for just a monthly rate of $35.

They also have a really cute offer: Sign up for annual membership and get a free bike. A roof and transportation--is that not life, made? Watch this clip from CNN for more.

P.S. This is a preview for Zest & Thyme's next Q&A. Stay tuned!

Urban Hippies

2009-06-23T10:16:00.001-04:00

New York Magazine assesses the revival of the hippie--composting, rooftop gardening and thrift shopping.

Boarding Pass

2009-06-22T11:47:00.011-04:00

I'm loving the new interview series over on Prêt à Voyager, called Boarding Pass (especially with this non-stop rain in New York). The newest installment features Victoria of SFgirlbybay sharing her favorite travel spots, her post-travel regimen and what she deems essential to pack, like in-flight pillows (off etsy) and a holga camera.
Aren't these images gorgeous? Check out the whole series of Boarding Pass at Prêt à Voyager.

Interview with Robert Kenner

2009-06-22T11:40:00.003-04:00

Have you seen Food, Inc. yet? Gourmet's got an interview with the director. Among many things, they talk about the not-so-funny "veggie libel laws," which limit consumer knowledge of food products in certain states.

Jell-O Competition Entries

2009-06-22T11:26:00.011-04:00

Happy Monday! Hope you enjoyed the Summer Solstace and Father's Day. Since I previously mentioned the Jello-O-Mold Competition, I thought I'd share some of the more appetizing results--hats, caviar and jewelry. More here.

I was about to feel bad for the judges, who would end up with sugar-induced, up-set stomachs, but I guess taste is not much of a factor here. Turns out, it is: The caviar mold actually had a salty, fishy taste and won runner-up.

(via Eat Me Daily; Eating Ithaca)

Have a Swell Weekend.

2009-06-19T12:29:00.004-04:00

Each month, Gourmet is going back into the archives for the best drinks since the magazine's inception 68 years ago. This month is the 1960s and includes the Applejack Rabbit, the London Fog and the Cherry Bounce.

P.S. No, I did not get to try them, so I can't vouch. But, I did go home with a handful of corn seeds on my third day.

Whatever Works

2009-06-19T12:15:00.005-04:00

Five years ago, Woody Allen left New York to explore Europe. Now, he's back with a new film starring Larry David. (Who better to play the typical "Woody Allen" character?) Read this little interview with the director and actors of Whatever Works, which opened in select theaters today.

Pizza History in the Making

2009-06-19T12:07:00.004-04:00

Today at 3 o'clock, 28,000 deep-dish pizzas will be flown in for the troops' July 4th pizza party. (Yup, this early.) Pizza-4-Patriots, the organizers of the event, are predicting it to be the biggest ever held--actually worthy of a Guinness World Record. Here's the full story on The New York Times Diner's Journal.

(via Eating Ithaca)

Happy Birthday, Jenn!

2009-06-19T11:30:00.002-04:00

Today is my sister's 16th birthday. She has such an incredible eye for design (she'll pick up a bird feather off the sidewalk and stick it in her necklace) and has become somewhat of a fashion icon at her high school (no really, she was interviewed for the yearbook).

So, I put together a little tutorial using tips around the web, including links to design blogs. (I also found out about Stitch, the first urban sewing lounge in the U.S.) If anyone has anything to add, I'm sure she'd be so excited. Thanks!

(image via hello my name is spin)

Unreleased Photos

2009-06-15T12:25:00.004-04:00

Photographer Thomas Kalak just messaged me with great news. Remember his book Same Same, But Different, documenting Thailand's ironically odd idiosyncrasies? Well, the book has since sold out, and 20 unreleased photos are now available as an app on itunes--free for a limited time only! Get it here, while it lasts.

Vintage Corning

2009-06-11T14:00:00.000-04:00

Just found some vintage cookware and tableware on Etsy, including this Corning non-stick skillet, an old Ice-O-Mat and a retro hot pot. Is it weird how excited I get over this stuff? P.S. Just got a new chef's knife. Can't wait to try it out, tonight!

(via Dallas)

Interview with Gourmet EIC

2009-06-11T11:25:00.000-04:00

Want to know more about the force behind Gourmet? Time Out NY just did a great interview with Editor-in-Chief, Ruth Reichl.

About twittering, she says: "I am a very sociable person, and as I’ve said before, I’ve always thought privacy was overrated." Also, when asked to define a "real woman" today: "A real woman is someone who knows what she wants. If you want to stay home, that’s fine, but you have to be clear-eyed." What a healthy attitude.

A Moment With: The Ladies of "Lady"

2009-06-10T11:55:00.016-04:00

As promised, here are the ladies of the Lady show: Leigh Bullard, Dallas Shaw, Christina Entcheva and Samantha Hahn. Check out their art show at the Charles Nolan Gallery in NYC this Saturday (June 13) from 5-8pm.

So, how did this all come together?
Leigh Bullard: I give all the credit to Dallas, she definitely got me on board and helped us come together as a team to work hard on putting this wonderful event together.
Dallas Shaw: I admire the other girls’ talent and thought our work would be great together. When choosing the right location, the majority of my clients and press are in the city so I assumed the same would be true for them. I wanted to have it in a designer's store instead of a gallery because our work is all very fashion inspired so I called up Charles Nolan! Couldn’t be happier that they agreed to support the show. After that was all set up we all took on the work for the event.
Christina Entcheva: I met Dallas through our involvement in Pocketto zine. We started reading each other's blogs, and it just went from there.

Is the show essentially four individual exhibitions, or does all of your work come together in some way?
DS: All of our work is extremely feminine and fashion inspired and fits just perfectly together.
CE: I think our work all comes together in some ways, and is distinctly different in others. The "Lady" concept is definitely something that we have in common, and I believe that a lot of our work is inspired by the female form. Beyond that, I think we all have different things going on.
LB: I think that we all have a special something to bring to the event as individual artists, but I also feel that our art is relative in as Christina mentions.

What would you attribute the most to your success: Etsy, blogging...?
CE: Blogging has been a big factor in how I've connected with various other artists.
Samantha Hahn: I don't know that I'd say I have reached "success." I'm not certain I ever want to. What if I get to that point and feel like I've done enough? Maybe I'd stop. I think it's good to always strive and to know that there is always someone better. At the same time it's important to take heed of personal accomplishments. I set out to accomplish certain goals this year and I've reached them. I'm still unsatisfied though as the original goals morphed and changed as I progressed. I love blogging and feel that it's connected me with a great and supportive community so I would say that makes me feel successful.
DS: I had huge success via my website first and then I was covered in a number of magazines and design blogs shortly after. I try to let my clients always know what I am working on before it hits the website.
LB: I think that blogging gives the why and digs a bit deeper into my emotions behind some of my art, showing my inspirations and with that I feel I can give my customers something to relate to. As far as etsy, they are well known and have such a wide web base support system from both buyers and sellers that it helps reach a large scale of customers easily.

Have you all met in person? If not, are you anxious/excited?
DS: We have not. Very happy to work with them and can’t wait to meet up for the show. Leigh and I have a second show in San Fran on June 27th as well! I know they will all be wonderful.
LB: I am definitely excited! I feel like I already know them a bit as I live my life practically on the web with my business. The internet is such a wonderful tool to help make this world of ours a bit smaller and by making opportunities as this show for example possible.
SH: I'm sure we'll get along quite well if we can find a way to set up the show within the unique constraints of a fashion shop full of ephemera. So far each girl has contributed something to the show other than art, whether it be to design a postcard, get a cupcake company on board, find the venue, or get a few cases of wine. I think we'll get along swimmingly. I can't wait to meet them in person.
CE: I am excited! I am over the whole web-based relationship stigma. I feel like when we meet, it will just be exciting and rewarding - we have all worked hard to put this thing together.

I'm pretty excited about the catering by Whimsy & Spice, too.
DS: I am excited too--I may store away some treats in my pockets. I’m pretty sure we were familiar with them from design blogs--was that Samantha’s suggestion originally?
SH: We all love cupcakes and theirs are delish.
CE: Whimsy & Spice makes some delicious treats! I am impressed with the creativity of the sweets they come up with.

Does this show say anything about the validity of the online gallery? Does it help in the real world gallery, after all?
SH: Tough question. I don't know about validity. I think each artist has her own perception of what is valid and how they want to be viewed. Personally I don't seek out exhibition opportunities. I prefer to do work directly for clients in a commercial context. That being said, when Dallas asked me to participate I thought, "why not." It was a good challenge. My advice to new artists deciding how to exhibit would be to do what you are comfortable with.
DS: I have started my entire career online. I do also show in galleries, but I think it’s safe to say that you must show your work online now--but you have to also know your clientele. I am showing this collection in Charles Nolan’s showroom because my clients are stylish; they are shoppers, magazine editors, etc.
LB: I have had success online for sure, but I do not really have a comparison as I have not really been a part of the gallery world as of yet. It is an amazing tool and without it I would definitely not been able to reach my customers around the globe. My advice to new artists is to definitely take advantage of your resources and continue to do what you love, eventually how you want to exhibit will fall into place.

Any other plans while you're all in the city? Have any of you lived in New York?
DS: I am in the city often--just moved North to expand my art career. On this trip I’ll be meeting with a few people in the business as usual and then unwinding at a little local pub with friends, and as always, a walk with a coffee in the park before heading home. I’ve never lived in New York! But my dream is to work in the fashion industry so maybe one day?
CE: I live about 35 minutes away from the city, so it's not that far of a trek for me. I was there daily while I was employed in Chelsea, and still visit frequently.
SH: I live in Brooklyn and grew up in Manhattan so it won't really be a special vacation or anything, just a show in my backyard.
LB: I am definitely going to take advantage of the city with my camera. I love that I am out of my element and can see things from a different perspective because I do not live in New York. I will also be celebrating my Birthday the night of the show so it will be definitely an exciting experience. Otherwise I am going with the flow.

Thanks, Glamour!

2009-06-10T11:44:00.006-04:00

A perk to interning at Gourmet is sharing the building with all other Condè Nast publications. Yesterday, the Glamour staff filled the cafeteria lobby with take-away balloons. Attached to the balloons were little messages. You either got a compliment, "Have you been working out?" or a redeemable itunes gift card.

P.S. Proofing delicious food writing all day makes a lunch break seem so much farther away!

Adopt an Olive Tree.

2009-06-08T15:24:00.011-04:00

Lauren, of Double Takes just sent me the best news! There's a program in Italy, called Nudo, where you can adopt your own olive tree, based on your own taste preference. And when the olives harvest (twice/yr) you'll get olive oil from your very own tree. No labor required. Just £65, or $125.

(Thanks, Lauren!)

Rail Line Turned Public Park

2009-06-08T14:59:00.012-04:00

In the 1930s, this space was used to lift freight trains off the streets of Manhattan, and for over a decade, the west side rail line was abandened. With the help of Mayor Bloomberg, chef Mario Batali, designer Diane Von Furstenberg and founders of the space, The High Line will now reopen tomorrow as a public park! Amazing. (Beware of the rules, though; no walking on tracks or sitting on railings.)

These beautiful photos were taken by photographer, Joel Sternfeld. Check out all the details--and more photography--right here!

Have a Delicious Weekend.

2009-06-05T15:22:00.003-04:00

It's strawberry season! Hit your local farmers' markets, and then head over to Gourmet.com for some very sweet recipes (pie, dumplings, ice cream). Also, look into the rhubarb while it lasts.

(image via Gourmet.com)

Weekend To Do: June 6-7

2009-06-05T15:00:00.001-04:00

I won't be here (heading to the shore!), but here are some great things to do in NYC this weekend:

• Washington Square Music Fest: kicks off its 51st season this weekend.
• Jazz-Age Lawn Party in Governor's Island: Bring your best 40's attire, learn the Charleston, take a drive in a motorcar and go vintage shopping.
• Rooftop Films: Watch an underground, outdoor movie on a roof. Then, go to the free-beer after-party.

Stay Tuned...

2009-06-05T14:30:00.004-04:00

Tune in next week: I have the four girls of Lady, a group art show in NYC, happening next weekend (June 13). After meeting online through the forces of Etsy, blogging and personal webpages, the four found a commonality in their work, and they'll all be here to talk about their upcoming exhibit.

In Defense of Distraction

2009-06-05T10:48:00.004-04:00

There was a great article in a recent New York Magazine about distraction--what causes it; how people avoid it; and how others embrace it. Read the full piece here. (Prepare yourself: It's quite long, but so good.)

Jell-O Mold Competition

2009-06-04T14:28:00.005-04:00

Inspired by the design possibilities, two Brooklyn roommates started what is now called the Jell-O Mold Competition. Rules: construction must contain mainly Jell-O and must be edible. (I'm guessing this wouldn't work.) Sign up by June 12; competition scheduled for June 20.

(via Serious Eats)

Edible in New York

2009-06-04T11:59:00.006-04:00

Yey! Edible Magazines made it to The Look Book. (See, the Edible Manhattan under the arm of the girl on the right?)

The Rain Come

2009-06-03T15:10:00.006-04:00

Just when I thought we were on the brink of beach weather, the drops started to fall. Good for the garden, though; can't complain. Also, great for a movie night. (Speaking of movies, I can't wait for this to come out. I'm predicting: the best of the year.)

(pretty pics via EPJ Photo)

Food Docs for June

2009-06-03T11:58:00.005-04:00

So many food documentaries are coming out this month--one by Michael Pollan, one by the FRESH movement (whose film you can actually screen yourself). Check them all out here.

P.S. Also, the Third Annual Food Film Festival.

(via Eat Me Daily)

Burgers with Obama

2009-06-03T11:05:00.010-04:00

Visit msnbc.com for Breaking News, World News, and News about the Economy

Did anyone watch the Inside the White House special on NBC last night? Apparently, the president and his cabinet love the burger joint around the corner, originally found by the first lady. More here. The in-depth tour continues tonight at 9.

P.S. Also, there are official White House M&Ms. So funny!

--Just Got the Call!

2009-06-02T13:35:00.006-04:00

Next week, I start a summer internship with Gourmet Magazine! To stop myself from bouncing off the walls, I think I'll do some cooking...and leave you with this. xo

The FEED Bags

2009-06-02T11:49:00.013-04:00

Maybe I'm being too vain, but I haven't found the right tote to carry my groceries. This, of course, is no reason to keep using plastic bags. Have you heard of the FEED bag project?

Started by Lauren Bush and run by the UN, the program works to end world hunger. You can purchase the bags online right here or at your local Whole Foods Market.

It's Nice That

2009-06-02T11:17:00.004-04:00

Every once and a while, I check in with this blog. It works as an online gallery of the best in contemporary creative works--photography, sculpture, video, etc. And they just released their first issue (already sold out!). Check in for the second issue due out in October.

Do you cook with radishes?

2009-06-01T14:34:00.006-04:00

I've often overlooked them, but this article from Gourmet has me rethinking their culinary worth. They work to heat up a salad or add a chill effect to a soup. Plus, they're pretty fool-proof to plant and harvest quite early. Read the full story here, if you're interested.

(image via Gourmet.com)

School Lunches

2009-06-01T13:13:00.008-04:00

School lunches make for an interesting comparison of international cuisine. Can you guess which country each of these are from? More here.

(via Louise McCready)

Green Roof Mandate

2009-06-01T10:50:00.006-04:00

Apparently green roofs have increased by 35% in recent years. And last week, the City of Toronto filed a mandate that new high-rise condos and offices must have them. Full story here. If you live in a city (with no room to grow) would you consider it?

Also, a Rooftop farm in Brooklyn overlooking Manhattan.

(via Eating Ithaca; image: City Hall, Chicago via WBC)

Well, I gave in.

2009-06-01T10:18:00.006-04:00

I'm always apprehensive about diving into new technologies, but I've finally been bitten by the Twitter bug. Are you on? I'm jessie_cacciola.

Welcome, June.

2009-06-01T10:07:00.004-04:00

Hope everyone had a great weekend! Did anyone catch the Manhattanhenge? It happens twice a year when the setting sun aligns perfectly with the east and west streets of Manhattan.

P.S. Perfect weather to kick off June, no? What are you guys up to? I just finished prepping the garden for tomatoes, corn, carrots and basil.

(image from The Gothamist; via aberjona's flickr)

Have a Sweet Weekend.

2009-05-29T16:38:00.000-04:00

I'm a little late on this, but the famous BabyCakes bakery in NYC just released their first cookbook earlier this month. Chock-full of sweet vegan recipes, I'm sure.

(via David Leibovitz)

Lit Mag Sale!

2009-05-29T12:15:00.006-04:00

This weekend is the 10th Annual Magathon. Tomorrow (May 30, 4 p.m.) there will be a reading by literary magazine editors at the New York Public Library, followed by a huge fair on Sunday at The Housing Works Bookstore Cafè--a non-profit working to end AIDS and homelessness. Lit mags from all across the country will be sold for just $2!

Alimentum(!), The Dirty Goat, Open Face Sandwich and Literal Lattè are a few of the hundreds to expect. Here's more info, if you're interested.

Golden Flats

2009-05-29T11:53:00.006-04:00

For some reason, as a kid, I used to think gold (as opposed to silver) looked dirty, but now I think it sets up a great palette for browns and greens. Aren't these lace flats great? Could dress them up with summer dresses, or down with jeans.

(via Anthropologie)

New Show

2009-05-29T11:00:00.000-04:00

The water is still a little too cold over here in New York. Stop by the Jen Bekman Gallery (6 Spring St) instead for the new work by artist Christian Chaize. On till July 11.