Endless Knots

Farmers marketing...at Grand Army Plaza

New York was ahead of the curve with green markets. I remember going to my first such more than 20 years ago in Union Square. Now there are green markets all over the boroughs, my current fave, due to its proximity to the daughters and son-in-law, is at Grand Army Plaza in Prospect Heights, Brooklyn.

I wondered if it would be teeming with people on July 4 and whether all the farmers would come in. They did and the vegetables, fruits, flowers, eggs, fish, meats, and mushroom purveyors were out in force.

Snap peas (which I just snapped - delicious)

 

Eat too many and you'll have cherry belly

 

Summer's here when its namesake squash appears

I should have made strawberry shortcake

 

My mother, born and raised but two miles from here, loved geraniums

 

Swan River Daisy (Brachycome)

Oh, those Flippin' Burgers

Maybe it's because it looks like a real urban eatery, with its crumpled and stained menus and cartoons of current and former presidents taped to the fridge.

Or because its staff is so nonchalant that one sign on the door said OPEN while the other said CLOSED.

Or cuz there's some really interesting art on the walls, courtesy of the cook (she's doing a series of 365 paintings, one for each day of the year).

Probably it's because the burgers are so flippin' good.

On a whim last night, we stopped by Flippin' Burgers in Newton Centre, MA, picked up a cheeseburger for the hubby and a mushroom burger for the me...and wow! Daughter #1, the chief family foodie, had found the place originally; I've passed it a zillion times; eyed it from the hair salon across the street that I've been frequenting of late.

Then the big moment, dinner last night, when we were thinking of going to Star Trek. Instead, burgers.

Others have discovered Flippin' Burgers' wonders before. See this great one from Chrissie Long, with the bona fides of the owners and staff.

Nearby folks, drive right there. Or call them. They even deliver. (Fries, which come with the burgers, are good too.)

To market, to market (via Public Radio Kitchen)

Our local public radio station (ok, one of them but the one I listen to) is doing all kinds of fun stuff with its interactive social urges, as per my post about Ken George, the station's New Media Director, a few weeks ago. Today comes the news that some dedicated soul at WBUR spent the weekend putting together this "play with me" map of all the farmers' markets in Massachusetts. Take a look and get out your baskets, folks. It won't be long now (she says, longingly, knowing it's another nearly three months before the ones in my hometown open).

While we're at it praising WBUR's initiatives, let's point toward Public Radio Kitchen itself, the site for "public radio fans passionate about food." Enough said. This is making me hungry and I have one more conference call before I eat.

Matzoh Balls by phone

It must have been the first year I was making Passover dinner. I remember standing by the kitchen table, talking on the phone with my mother, reaching for a scrap of paper, and taking down the recipe. That scrap has occupied a hallowed space in my recipe book ever since, opened to that page every year when it's time to make the Matzoh Balls.

For those who know the customs of Passover (tonight, Seder, don't be late), the placement of this recipe in my three-ring binder is hilarious, if not sacrilegious, stacked as it is on top of the Fettuccine Alfredo recipe. No noodles are allowed during Passover, which, for me, is akin to giving up most of my diet, as pasta in any form constitutes my favorite consumable.

Since I posted the recipe (along with the scrumptious soup that I also make for this meal) as part of a Rosh Hashonah menu a while back, I won't repeat it, but will remind all makers of "kneidlach" (or as my mother called them "kneidles") to separate the eggs, beat the whites, then gently fold them in into the matzoh meal, a little at a time. Result? Your matzoh balls will not only float but will melt on contact with your taste buds, light, airy, delicious.

Meanwhile, Happy Passover to all celebrating freedom, an aspiration for humanity everywhere.

First herbs of the season

Herewith the seasonal guessing games begin, rejoicing in the very first shoots having come up in the herb garden. What are these? (Zooming in permitted!)

A work of Taste

Cappuccino by Nik Krankl
Taste, March 20, 2009
Photo by Stuart Sadick

Five points and a birthday for Taste

These things don't really belong together but alas the joy of blogging.

Although we live mere moments from Boston (eight miles by the odometer), we're also blessed with many woods nearby--Hamlin in Wayland, Paine in Weston, Lincoln Conservation Land near the DeCordova Museum, Elm Bank Reservation in South Natick, and, of course, Cold Spring Park right here in Newton, just to name a few whose paths we tred on a regular basis.

Should you ever come across something like this in any of those woods, know that someone near and dear to me, one celebrating a birthday today, marks the woods in which he runs when many paths converge. On Sunday, we found that this one for five paths had survived yet another winter at Paine.

Belle, at 14, still can make the trek, with a bit of huffing and puffing, so here she is too, surveying the snow, even as we were just in our shirtsleeves.

And now on to Taste, which celebrated its first birthday this past week. Packed, as you can see, when we were there on Saturday, no less because there was a trio playing - percussion, voice, and keyboard. Very nice - and the cappuccino was great too. Congrats to Taste!

Geekdoctor in BusinessWeek

John Halamka, aka Geekdoctor, has a thoughtful piece, "IT Spending: When Less Is More," in the current BusinessWeek that gives pause. For a long time, he's been hearing that "when it comes to information technology spending...the health-care industry should behave more like banks."

Given what's happened with the banks, maybe not. Here's the conclusion:

One thing is certain: In 2009, no one is going to tell me that health-care IT should run as well as that of Lehman Brothers. I've even talked to folks in the IT industry who are rewriting their Web sites and résumés to remove historical references to their overwhelming successes in financial-services automation.

I have empathy for everyone in the financial-services industry; the anxiety and stress must feel overwhelming. Given that every person in the U.S. will be paying thousands of dollars in additional taxes over time to rescue the industry, we're all going to accept responsibility for its IT systems and for the management that led the unsinkable ship of the banks into an iceberg at full speed.

Let us hope that the next generation of financial-industry business intelligence tools and dashboards provides the wisdom to help us avoid such disasters in the future

And if this isn't your cup of green tea, then take a look at Doc Halamka's post on okonomiyaki, about which I agree with him: it's the best Japanese comfort food that there is.

In real but not quite

We all know my fave coffee house and you're beginning to get the picture of how much I (and we) frequent said establishment. And so it was no strange event that took us there last Sunday, collllllldddddd as it was, following a walk along the Charles River in nearby Cambridge. And we all know that people have a habit of offering me their tables when they are one and I am more than one (which is a bit of an existential statement).

Happened again this particular day as the place was packed at 4 in the afternoon. Nary a table in sight so we took our places at the bar, also a congenial location as you get to watch the baristas performing their art. I had turned my back for a moment when a man sitting near the window motioned to Jeff and, next thing I knew, we were relocated to the front of the house. I stopped along the way to admire the photo exhibit now showing (here's one of those great photos).

Enjoyed the cappuccino, as always, came home, and there were a coupla twitter messages a-waiting:

ctanowitz: was that you at Taste today at 4:15?
ctanowitz: I was the guy at the counter who let you have the table.

Of course, I inquired why Chuck Tanowitz, photographer, blogger, and new media strategist at Schwartz Communications hadn't said hello. He wasn't sure it was me and, thus, being a nice person didn't want to pester someone if not the right one.

So we almost met - and to underscore how silly the virtual world really is, it turns out we live just a few blocks apart. And still haven't met.

Waving to Chuck as he's probably walking past right now.

Local boy makes good...pickles and makes the NY Times

Photo by Ozier Muhammad/The New York Times
Jon Orren of Wheelhouse Pickles.

It's food day in the NY Times, technically "Dining," formerly "Dining In, Dining Out," but since the latter has fallen on hard times, they appear to be focusing on the fact that people do, despite all, continue to eat.

Lead article? "Brooklyn's New Culinary Movement," which I can attest is in fine fettle, having visited a few of its highlights, notably Grand Army Plaza's Farmers Market and the same in Fort Greene, and just the night before last having walked, via a friend's house, on a big circuit in the freeeeeezing cold just to pick up the delicious roast chicken at Union Market (Bostonians, think Savenors plus Whole Foods set in an area about the size of the original Bread & Circus in Brookline). And those are just cream skimmings, so to speak, of the great eats in Brooklyn -- try Russo's (they need a real website, hint), for example, (there's one in Brooklyn too, Watertown Russo's lovers) for superb mozzarella or the new Cataldo's on Vanderbilt in Prospect Heights for some good down-home Italian cooking.

So today's Times has a great survey of all the young Brooklyn culinary artists, opening up new pots of ideas, including Newton's very own Jon Orren, pictured here, of Wheelhouse Pickles. Last I saw Jon was about a year ago on Seventh Avenue in Park Slope (I admit it, I'm in NY a lot) and he was dropping off pickles at a local shop. He makes them; I've sampled them; and they're good.

How do I know Jon? He taught me to cook. Yes, that's an exaggeration but he did teach me a culinary trick about ten years ago that has vastly improved my soup making and which everyone reading here already knows: saute the veggies until they're just caramelized before plopping them in the soup.

I actually got to watch Jon perform this feat while sitting at my kitchen table. Jon loves to cook the way Daughter #1 does, in that he was then cooking at Harvest Restaturant in Harvard Square and she was in culinary school. They decided to team up for a New Year's Eve dinner with their high school friends (Newton North, class of 1995) and divvied up the responsibilities. Jon was on soup and I can't remember what Miranda was in charge of but, as I recall, they served quite the tasty repast.

Congrats, Jon, and, everyone, order up your Wheelhouse Pickles today!