Granola-Yogurt Parfaits

 

I almost clicked on the “Weeknight Suppers” category for this post featuring Granola-Yogurt Parfaits because, to be completely honest, this is one of those breakfast meals that I’ve had more than a few times for dinner.  It is light, refreshing, and reasonably healthy so it makes a quick evening meal.  Of course, it is a wonderful breakfast, too, especially with all the gorgeous, ripe summertime fruit and berries coming into season.

Madison Square Eats

 On a tiny sliver of pavement and park between Fifth Avenue and Broadway near 24th Street, about a dozen and half food vendors and a few craft stalls have been making their home and feeding the hungry local hoards for about the past month.  I stopped by Madison Square Eats yesterday to check out some of the delicious treats being sold there.  It wraps up this coming Friday, June 3rd, in time for Madison Square Park to turn itself over to the masses for the 9th annual Big Apple BBQ Block Party next weekend.

Eat, Write, Retreat 2011 Conference Recap

 

This past weekend, I attended the Eat, Write, Retreat food bloggers conference in my hometown area of Washington, DC.  It was an amazing experience filled with great food to eat, informative and dynamic lectures and workshops, and really nice and wonderful fellow food writers.  Having never been to one of these events before, I wasn’t sure quite what to expect, and I walked away feeling completely reinvigorated about the writing on my own blog as well as being totally inspired by my fellow attendees.

“Tanzen Dame” Label from Bloomer Creek Wines

While I’m Washington, DC for the “Eat, Write, Retreat” food bloggers conference, I wanted to share with you an article I wrote last September about a great New York State wine that I discovered at their label release party. Recently, I was reintroduced to it at a wine tasting.  

Just moments prior to the massive storm that ripped through the New York area last Thursday evening, I was speaking to Kim Engle of Bloomer Creek Wines in the Finger Lakes region about his new wine label Tanzen Dame (“Dance, Lady?”) while at a tasting on the Lower East Side. The Rieslings and Gerwürtraminer that we had the opportunity to sample that evening were ones he had created as an homage to the wines of Germany and Alsace. With just one sip of the refreshing and semi-sweet 2008 Second Harvest Riesling, I was transported away from the steamy city.

Product Spotlight – Nuts+Nuts – Farm-direct Gourmet Cashews

Cashews are one of those things that I grew up with as a luxury item.  I like them so much that I usually pick them out of the mixed nuts tray, leaving behind the peanuts, walnuts, and Brazil nuts for everyone else.  So, when I first saw this display of different cashew flavor combinations, I picked up one of each to try.  I first got to know Cyrilla Suwarsa, co-founder of Nuts+Nuts, at the New Amsterdam Holiday Market back in December.  She was there selling the farm-direct gourmet cashews that her company imports from farmers in Indonesia, her home country.  Cyrilla met me for a coffee a few months back to talk to me about her company and the inspiration behind it and its product line.

9th Avenue International Food Festival

The 9th Avenue International Food Festival held today, which stretched over 15 blocks on the West Side of Manhattan, brought out folks from the neighborhood, tourists, other locals, and food folks like me.  Covering the area known as Hell’s Kitchen, restaurants, street, vendors, churches, and others served up a dizzying array of foods that showcase some of the variety of cuisines available in New York. I’ve wrapped it up into a gallery, as there was just too much to process in one afternoon.  

Asparagus and Scrambled Eggs with Tarragon-Shallot Butter

 

Asparagus are now really in season in New York, as are eggs (they have great flavor and color in the springtime), so this is a perfect meal to make at this time of year.  Fluffy, golden eggs, given extra flavor due to the herb compound butter, just melt in your mouth.  The puff pastry is an extra decorative touch that also gives a crunchy and light side note to the creaminess of the eggs and the woodsie-ness of the asparagus.  Coating the vegetables in the same seasoning as the eggs pulls the dish together even more tightly. I’d originally thought of this as a Mother’s Day Brunch dish, hence the hearts, but it could just as well be a weeknight supper or anytime meal, it is so easy to put together

Brooklyn Uncorked 2011 by Edible Magazine

So much wine, so little time.  That’s a bit what it felt like walking in to the Brooklyn Academy of Music last night for the Brooklyn Uncorked festival put together by Edible Magazine (Manhattan, Brooklyn, and East End).  With 26 tables of wines and 14 food options (according to the website), this was a cornucopia of eating and drinking options showcasing the variety of Long Island wines as well as displaying culinary talents from Brooklyn and Manhattan.  My friend who went with me and I did our best to try to sample something from everyone, with apologies to those whom we missed.

Hester Street Fair Lower Feast Side Food Festival

Today was opening day for the Hester Street Fair which featured a Lower Feast Side Food Festival in conjunction with the other events going on for the New Museum’s Festival of Ideas, which wrapped further west on the Lower East Side around the Bowery.   In a slender space at the intersection of Hester Streets and Essex Streets was a varied collection of crafts vendors with adorable stuffed toys, handmade purses, terrariums, and bath and beauty products as well as some terrific food vendors.  Bringing a bright ray of sunshine into the lives of New Yorkers after a particularly brutal winter this year, people came out with dogs, strollers, babies, and friends to chat with the merchants, pick up some things, and enjoy a sunshine-filled day outdoors.

Colonie Restaurant in Brooklyn

Colonie, a newish restaurant in Brooklyn Heights, has been on the radar of my friends and I since before it even opened, due to the fact that one of them lives around the corner from the spot and had seen it under construction.  Last night, we paid another visit there after hitting a few wine tastings in the neighborhood (checking out Heights Chateau and Brooklyn Wine Exchange).  Interestingly enough, it had also been on Sam Sifton’s radar and profiled in The New York Times this week.

New Amsterdam Market Floralia Celebration

Sunday, on a glorious, bright sunshiny day, the New Amsterdam Market held a celebration for May Day called Floralia, complete with Maypole (above). I’ve never been much for recognizing this pagan feast day or the communist-era counterpart. I’ve always been envious, however, of my European friends when they had this day off, as it seemed a bit random. Of course, we have our Labor Day in September instead, so I guess that counts.

This was a great chance to catch up with vendors that I hadn’t seen in a while (Liddabit Sweets, Nordic Breads), discover some new delicious treats (Pie Corps), and even to run into a friend and her husband (Karen of Markets of NYC). Everyone seemed to be enjoying checking out the different products, eating the offerings from the prepared food vendors, and generally just hanging out in the city on a really nice day.  As I told Robert LaValva, the market manager, I’d seen several food folks over the course of the previous week who had chimed, “See you at the market on Sunday,” when we all realized we’d be convening at the event, so there was definitely buzz about the day.

Here’s a photo tour of some of what was available in the market today: