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Thanksgiving, 1992, San Francisco, CA, my first away from home as a newly minted full-grown adult. I figured I would make the turkey, since of my 3 roommates, 2 were veggie, and one had no interest in taking on the bird.
Read MoreStuffing was never high on my list of Thanksgiving loves. I never loved the flavor, and was put off by the number of ingredients involved.
Read MoreI was looking at the DailyBuzz Moms site today and stumbled across my Strawberry, Sage and Grapefruit Granita on their Top 9!
Loving that I'm featured and can't wait to try the Blackberry Lime Tarts from Thyme of Taste's website.
Click on over to see the feature and check out some of the other recipes while you are there.
Have you ever made granita before? I hadn't until last night. It was so easy that I think this will become a regular thing with all of these great Spring-into-Summer fruits coming my way.
Some of my favorite summer moments include walking Down the Hill to the pizza place to get a frozen Italian ice. Down the Hill is treated as such, since it was a title for a small hill made up of dirt that created a shortcut between our suburban Queens neighborhood and a small strip of stores just off the LIE eastbound. If you needed something from the store you were directed to go Down the Hill.
Of course, there was another hill just on the other side of the shopping mall, but that was not Down the Hill, you know what I mean? There were times that my mother, Gran Fran, made it clear we were not supposed to go Down the Hill, but down the hill. This was mostly when we wore shorts, flip flops, sandals, or were otherwise in danger of scraping ourselves on bits of broken glass or other debris left in the dirt. Oh, and sometimes when it was raining, icy, snowy, or just a regular Tuesday. You see where I'm going with this?
The Italian ice that we had came pre-packaged and was made by a company called Marino's. My parents grew up in Brooklyn and had hand-made Italian ices that we would periodically venture across borough lines to enjoy. The Brooklyn ices definitely tasted more like the fruit they said were included (lemon was my fave). But the packaged kind are still what comes to mind when summer weather shows itself, however briefly, here in SF (this weekend has topped out at a whopping 79 degrees without a cloud or fog bank in sight).
As I grew up and started to venture to other cities and states I found there were regionally produced ice-like treats. In Philly I came across Water Ice. Not a huge fan of this style of ice treat. I can't put my finger on why, and it may just be because it's not the same as what I knew as a child. But, I do know plenty of people who love them a good Water Ice.
In California, I was treated to Hawaiian Shaved Ice, but it's too bumpy and doesn't have that nice rich consistency that I love. I do, however, love the variety of flavors, and the less common ones, that are available for your very own custom shaved ice.
I wasn't sure it was going to turn out, since it was such a simple recipe. All the recipes I came across used quite a bit of sugar, which I decided to reduce. The first version I made used only half of what I'm recommending here, and no water. That batch was very tart. Fine for me, but I think most people would like their granita quite a bit sweeter.
Please enjoy this and let me know about any other types of ice-related goodness that I didn't go over here. I'd love to try more!
Ingredients
Method:
Hey, thanks, DailyBuzz Healthy Living for featuring my Jalapeno Butternut Squash Soup on their Top 9 today.
Today's my birthday, so what a nice thing to find in my inbox!
If you'd like to make this delicious soup yourself, click here.
Check it out. I made some really nice iced tea for my friends as gifts.
It sounds like I'm tooting my own horn, here, but for real, the tea was tasty and I would love to receive a bottle that looks so pretty as a gift.
My favorite brand of tea is Mariage Frères. When my daughter and I were in France last summer, we spent a number of hours having tea at the tearoom in Mariage Frères (you can read about our escapades here). The ceremony with which they serve the tea, and the treats that come with it are extraordinary.
The first time I encountered Mariage Frères tea was when I was working as a low-level manager at Williams-Sonoma in San Francisco back in 1992. Having worked at Pottery Barn in NY, I was able to transfer to Williams-Sonoma as soon as I got to SF.
I had just moved out and was missing home. The manager on duty stationed me in the gourmet food section at the back of the store. They always had classical music playing in the store at that time. When a piece came on by Mozart that had been featured in the movie "Amadeus", one of my and Joe's favorite movies, I got weepy.
Somehow, I managed to cry internally and still help customers. As I was busying myself with cleaning up the shelves I smelled something sweet, spicy and cinnamon-y. Upon further investigation, it was a can of tea that had been opened to entice the customers senses. It certainly worked for me. The flavor was L'Esprit de Noel, a Christmas tea. I bought a can, which cost somewhere in the realm of two hours' worth of retail wages. And continue to buy one every year for Christmas.
You can buy Mariage Frères teas on Market Hall and Dean and Deluca online. I know in San Francisco and Berkeley there are a few places that also stock this tea. But, the best place to go, is to get on a plane and head to Paris :)
My Favorite Teas from Mariage Frères:
makes 2 cups
Ingredients:
Method:
You can add this syrup to cold or warm drinks. I don't drink coffee, but wonder if it might taste good in that, too! I do know, however, that it'll be great in lemonade and just add a bit to seltzer water for a little spark.
If you're not from here I'd like you to know that San Francisco gets its Summer weather the last week in September or in early October. We're in it now, so are wearing skirts with no tights, but the sun is going down as if it's Fall. It is always an odd time of year for me because the light is changing and I expect a chill in the air, just like when I was little in NY.
This time of year (no matter what the weather) always makes me want to have warm, satisfying rice or pasta dishes. The other day I decided to break out my stand by risotto recipe. It's fairly simple, and oh-so-satisfying.
Just a note, I don't eat cheese, so the only dairy product in this recipe is butter: I can't seem to remove it completely from my repertoire. There's just no replacement for the flavor andcreaminess butter brings to rice. But, if you'd like to make this completely vegan, replace the butter with Olive Oil, it works just fine.
Ingredients:
Make the Stock:
I love Porcini mushrooms. When I discovered this boullion, I just about fell over in glee. It is amazing how strongly the mushroom flavors comes through. In general, I'm more of a chicken stock kind of girl, and I do not care for veggie stock. It usually tastes way too much like celery for my liking. But these cubes make it possible to have the best of a non-meat based boullion and a well flavored broth all in one.
Soak the Dried Porcini
Again, Porcini is my favorite. Any chance I have to add them to a dish, I take it. The dried ones are usually what I have on hand, and they work well.
In San Francisco, there is a whole mushroom booth at the giant Ferry Building farmer's market. We're lucky enough to get frozen fresh Porcini there. It costs an arm and a leg, but the flavor is so intense you don't need to use that much, so a bag lasted me for a good six months in the freezer.
The red wine makes the depth of the earthy flavors shine through. If you can afford to use a higher quality cup of wine here, you'll taste the difference.
Start the Rice:
Quite simply, you are trying to get the rice to cook slowly so that it will toast somewhat in the beginning and then take its time absorbing all of the lovely stock and wine you are going to add to it.Take your time here, and if it seems things are starting to stick or burn, lower the heat and relax. If you like a glass of wine, now's a good time to grab one, as you get ready to stir for a bit.
Cook the Rice:
This is the most time consuming step, but again, just take it slow and don't worry, you'll be eating soon enough.
Make sure that all of the liquid gets absorbed before you make a move to add more. It's tough to wait, I know I've rushed it before and regretted it after the fact. The rice needs time to soak it all up before it takes another breath and is ready to drink up some more.
It'll be well worth your effort (and the number of pans you'll have to clean). It's a great Fall dish, especially if you live somewhere where the weather has actually started to shift to coolness.
Enjoy and eat up!
