Just a quick announcement to say that I have been blogging the Montréal en Lumière festival for the Montreal Gazette! Meeting all the Seattle chefs and Oregon state winemakers has made me miss the Pacific Northwest like something crazy. Posts thus far:
Chatting with Seattle chef Matthew Dillon
Crazy good eating with Matthew Dillon
Gala night with Seattle chef Jason Wilson and Long Shadow wines
And so many more in the pipe! Follow along here.
Since my Acquired Taste story about Sasha isn’t available online, I thought I would post some of the photos I took when I visited her last summer. I have so many, I kind of want to share them all.
It was really humid that day, the kind where staying inside is almost unbearable. Being in a hot kitchen, even worse. Typical upstate New York summer, it rained on and off all afternoon, but we took every opportunity to escape outside to her backyard for wine or to go on walks.
I love writing about my best friends. It’s happening more and more, almost emerging as a pattern, which made me realize how fascinating and talented and smart my loved ones really are. I’ve long admired Sasha’s intuitive and thoughtful cooking style, yet I had never really watched her “in action.” (Whenever I would arrive at her house for dinner parties, everything would already be ready to go!)
More photos to come….
Posted in baking, celebration, family, food, grains, lunch, memory, nature, outdoors, party, people, photography
Tagged acquired taste magazine, home cooking, my friend sasha, sound and season
I mean, COME ON. That’s just perfect jerk chicken.
It’s so beautiful to me that I even made it the backdrop to my computer desktop but then I had to take it down because it was making me too hungry.
So yeah, last weekend’s Tropical Staycation at Le Pick Up was a crazy, exhausting, fun mess. One of my friends, who visited the restaurant for the first time that night, said it was like “being at the best family dinner imaginable, one where the food is actually good and the company is even better.” I can’t imagine a better compliment, or vibe better suited to Le Pick Up.
More photos to come!
Sometimes you don’t know how badly you need to get out of the city until you have finally escaped to the country. And then you realize, I needed this. Seven years in Ithaca maybe transformed me into a country mouse, and I miss the wide open spaces of winter and snow. So we escaped into snow hikes, wood-fired pizza, birthday tarot card readings, intense full moon, chocolate cake, snow angels, baked eggs for breakfast, country-western music, and the most peaceful and sunny bedroom room I’ve ever stayed in. Thank you T + N for our country getaway!
Posted in celebration, family, nature, outdoors, party, people, travel
Tagged birthday pizza party, country weekend, eastern townships
Hey Montreal friends!
I’m hosting a concert at Le Pick Up this Saturday, Feb. 11 with Brooklyn guitarist Steve Gunn and Toronto musician Doc Dunn. There’s a great video of Steve here, and it’s even a million times more magical live.
A word about Steve:
Brooklyn guitarist Steve Gunn’s prodigous talent for fusing traditional American song structures with a raga influence is almost criminally unheralded. Gunn’s songcraft is so strong and his playing style so effortlessly beautiful that folks should be shouting his name from every tall building and mountaintop. This native Philadelphian has been a stalwart of the American experimental scene for closing in on a decade. He is known by many for his contributions as one half of the core duo behind GHQ (with Marcia Bassett) as well as for his many other affiliations with underground luminaries such as Tom Carter, the Magik Markers and Marc Orleans.
And another word about Doc:
“Fresh out of the guitar soli school of William Eaton‘s soaking echo, Doc Dunn eschews in a new dawn of steel string reveries. As Dunn wades through the Takoma streams, he permeates the finger-picked tradition with standing waves of lysergic ether, free-basing his way into a tradition too bleak for the soft shores of the Rooted mind. Triplic layers of twang will melt their way through wires and speakers before their murky waters settle inside our distant (ear) drums.” — Weird Canada.
This is going to be a lovely, beautiful night, and I will be making appropriate concert snacks. Please join us! The show begins promptly at 9pm and is all ages.
Posted in music, party, people
Tagged concert, doc dunn, music and snacks, steve gunn
The Vegan Secret Supper with Chef Merida at the Dep was such a blast. I’m the first to admit I don’t know much about vegan cooking (you can make cheese out of nuts???), so it was a delight to watch Merida work her magic.
And work it she did — we were treated to three elaborate, sumptuous courses, which included a oyster mushroom and leek risotto with crispy sunchoke chips, celeriac cream, and roasted parsnips; pan-fried yam and walnut croquette with a balsamic-beet reduction and coconut-cashew nut cheese over frisee; and my favorite, hazelnut-chocolate mousse pie with lavender-vanilla cashew cream (INSANELY good).
We’re bringing her back for an encore appearance this summer. I don’t think I’ve ever been so stoked for a vegan meal! (I’m also hoping for vegan ice cream).
Posted in celebration, party, people, restaurants
Tagged depanneur le pick up, party party party, vegan cooking, vegan secret supper
Stoked to announce the next special dinner at Le Pick Up — this one, I must say, I have been waiting for anxiously all winter. I’ve had this idea brewing in my head ever since I went to Jamaica last summer, and suggested to Jeremy that we throw a jerk night. The dude has been tweaking his recipe for months now, and it is perfect.
All the information can be found here, email me if you would like to make a reservation!
[via Depanneur Le Pick Up]
Being the Dep’s baker, I’m the go-to person for birthday cakes and other celebratory sweets. Not that I mind, of course. For a recent quadruple birthday party, I decided on a dark chocolate-stout triple-layer cake with dark chocolate ganache and hot chocolate-flavored whipped cream. Super, super rich and super, super good.
Chinese New Year has always been my favorite holiday. (Thanksgiving is a close second). When I was growing up, my parents would throw epic annual parties at our house that usually ended in drunken Chinese opera singing and gifts of money in tiny red envelopes. (How I treasured those envelopes!) Sometimes my mom would make dumplings from scratch, and everyone would rave at how delicious they were. She always kept it simple — just pork and minced chives. Our galas became so infamous that when I was in high school, my friends, begging for an invitation, would crash our house in droves of 5 and 10.
Last year, with the help of my friend Yung Chang, I hosted an unbelievable party where we made thousands of dumplings and did karaoke. Okay, the night was really, really, really epic. But this year, for the year of the water dragon, I almost didn’t throw a party. Yung was away on set for his latest film, and Adam was gone on another assignment. No celebration this year, I thought.
Unexpectedly, at the eleventh hour, I got inspired. I emailed a small but solid gang of friends, and bought a few bags of frozen (sorry, Mom) dumplings, some vegetables, and a gorgeous striped sea bass from Marche Oriental, and began to cook. The dinner was slightly more elaborate than defrosted dumplings and cold beer, but still simple, simple, simple. There was Chinese broccoli coated in black vinegar, dan dan noodles provided by Bartek, crispy fried noodles (all those noodles are excellent for longevity), a beautiful cabbage salad made by Katherine, and that tender sea bass, poached for four minutes in salted water and then coated in a luscious, aromatic sauce.
I’m a fan of the impromptu gathering, of the lower expectations and relaxed vibes. As a Libra, I will always love a big, out of control party, but I secretly prefer the chill zone of a small group and simple offerings. You know when you have a really good feeling about a year? I have a great feeling about 2012.
K, my favorite recipe for dumpling dunking sauce:
3 T smooth peanut butter
4-6 T reduced sodium soy sauce, to taste (add a few more shakes if your peanut butter is on the sweet side)
2-4 T rice vinegar (I also like the more intense black vinegar)
2-3 T finely minced ginger
2-3 T finely minced garlic
2-4 t sriracha or red chili paste (or even more if you’re feeling gutsy)
2 t sesame oil
2 t oyster sauce
big handful cilantro, finely chopped another big handful parsley, finely chopped
few stems scallions, chopped
the juice of a lime or lemon
salt and black pepper, to taste
Add all ingredients and stir until smooth. Refrigerate for at least an hour before serving. Let the flavors get to know one another. Use for dumpling dipping and serve with extra dishes of black vinegar and hot sauce.
Happy New Year!!!!!!
Tagged celebration, chinese new year, dumplings, memories
I’m thrilled to announce that the Dep’s first guest chef dinner of 2012 will feature the talented Brooklyn-based crew behind Vegan Secret Supper. I have to admit that I don’t know much about vegan cooking, so this is a particularly exciting event for me (I’m especially excited to see what Chef Merida has up her sleeve in the dessert and pastry realm!) Full details for the event can be found here; I only have a few spots left, so email me if you’d like to save your seat, because they are filling up crazy fast!
[All mouthwatering - and vegan! - photos courtesy of Vegan Sunday Supper tumblr]
Posted in announcement, party, people, restaurants, winter
Tagged depanneur le pick up, vegan cooking, vegan secret supper