spicetart

Ivy Marcos

I realized last week when Chris called Ivy "Imelda" that I may have gone overboard on the shoes.  I counted and only 8 pairs were bought by me, most of those cheap Target or Old Navy shoes that really are a waste of money because they wear out so fast (and a couple of pairs of slippers - surely that doesn't count, right?) The best and easily cutest shoes ever are Pedipeds, which were recommended to me by my friend Gina, whose daughter was born on the same day as Ivy.  She had cute little soft, leather-soled pink shoes with red flowers with green leaves.  So cute! But my down fall was the website, and it will be yours too if you click HERE, and if it doesn't melt your heart with sweet kitteny cuteness, well, your heart is black and dead. I rarely even buy shoes for myself and here I am trying to narrow it down to 3.  Help me Imelda!

Holstein Beans - Updated!

  vs.   

Tell me that you don't see the uncanny similarity...If a cow were a bean, this is what they would look like.  I dub thee...Holstein Beans!  Ok, ok, these beans already have a name, and the name is actually a damn good one.  They are called Black Calypso, also known as European Soldier, Soldier and Johnson beans, none of which can even compete with the way better name of Holstein Beans. But Steve Sando at Rancho Gordo is the Bean Man, so what he says goes when it comes to beans.  I got these lovelies at the Ferry Building, of course, but he sells them all over the place if you know where to find him.  He also sells corn masa and tortillas, chile peppers and herbs, grains and greens.  I love this stuff!

Update 5/6/05: Ok so a bit of a correction about the Black Calypso's other names, they are also known as Orca beans and Yin/Yang, but European Soldier is a different bean altogether.  My bad, I must have been cross-eyed when I made that up, I mean, when I read that.  This comes straight from the man himself so I guess I'll believe him.

Also, Steve Sando's advice on how to cook these beauties:

Good heirlooms don't need much! One piece of bacon, onion and garlic and
call it a day. Maybe some sage at the end.

Thanks Steve!

Fresh Cheese in Action

So Tuesday I wrote about my visit to Point Reyes, and Biggles wrote about his heathen adventures in the sand with chicken, but what would a trip to Point Reyes be without a stop at Cowgirl Creamery? Just off of main street in Point Reyes Station, Cowgirl Creamery is in a beautiful, old renovated barn. Part of the Tomales Bay Foods group (a cool history of their beginnings in 1993 is here), Cowgirl Creamery consists of their cheese making facility and cheese counter, and shares the barn space with a natural fabric clothing boutique, an organic produce stand, and a healthy foods deli. The main attraction is easily the windows that overlook the cheese makers doing their thang. We got their just in time to see the process from curds to, um, cheese formed things. Just see the pictures.

My favorite of their cheeses is the Mt. Tam, I could easily put away the whole thing in a sitting.  It's a smooth and buttery triple-cream cheese that just melts in your mouth.  I've also tried the award winning Red Hawk and decided that I am not quite at the advanced cheese tasting level to enjoy this cheese.  It's a washed-rind cheese so it's got that -WOW- that's a kicker of a cheese, yeah!  They call it "fully-flavored" - can't argue with that assessment at all. Red Hawk won Best-In-Show at the American Cheese Society's Annual Conference in 2003.  Impressive.  Go pay 'em a visit.

COWGIRL CREAMERY AT TOMALES BAY FOODS
80 Fourth Street
Point Reyes Station, CA 94956
Phone (415) 663-9335

You can also find Cowgirl Creamery cheeses at their store front in the Ferry Building and at Whole Foods, Draegers, the Pasta Shop and probably at Andronicos.

Farmers Storm Montclair Village

You know a town has come into its own when they have a farmer's market there.  Right?  I mean that tells you  people have made this place a home and a destination spot.  I was excited to hear that my hometown, Montclair, which resides in my bigger hometown Oakland, is starting a Farmer's Market May 1 right there in downtown Montclair Village (3 blocks long, 5 blocks wide).  I cried when the evil trio Starbucks, Noahs Bagels and Jamba Juice came to town, and when Icehouse and the original Colonial Donuts closed down, but I'm happy about the arrival of the new Farmer's Market.  Welcome farmers!  Don't let the yuppies scare you away!

Montclair Village Farmer's Market
Sundays from 9 am to 1 pm
On La Salle Ave between Mountain Blvd. and Moraga Ave.
MAP

The sign said "Restaurant Supplies"

Who could resist buying this lovely egg slicer?  Well, I certainly couldn't, but then again, I can't resist a good, junky kitchen store.  If it has cheap figurines and Christmas lights in the windows, I am compelled to go in.  M.V. Trading Co in San Mateo has everything for your gadgetoholic needs and FOR CHEAP!  I only had 10 minutes to shop, but I am so going back this weekend. 

M.V. Trading Co.
251 3rd Street
San Mateo, CA

Best. Bread. Ever.

Do you remember how I went on and on back in December about the bread at Crepe & Brioche?  And how I tracked down the phone number and grilled a poor baker about when they were opening a store front (see update in SF Gate)?  Well I have yet to visit the store BUT their baked breads, cakes, tarts, brioche (der), scones, croissants, muffins, epis baguettes (pictured, best. bread. ever.) and other items of bakery goodness are available at the farmer's market in San Mateo, also at other markets.  It was all I could do to keep myself from jumping over the table and grabbing as much as I could carry and saying "merci" to the French guy that counts in French (show off) and run off maniacally laughing into the hills of the Peninsula to live a happy life on chocolate croissants and walnut bread.  Alas, I bought a baguette and a blueberry scone and left peacefully.  Check it out.

Brioche Bakery
210 Columbus Ave. (near Kearny)
San Francisco
(415) 765- 0412
Open Tuesday-Saturday, hours vary

The vegetables series: No end in sight

Ok, so I lied.  I am just so damned smitten with vegetable right now.  My spring/summer challenge is to cook with vegetables I have either a) never heard of or b) have cooked with before but always cook them the same boring way and so I will cook them differently.  And I will not be afraid.

I went to the San Mateo Farmer's Market on Saturday, and while it is a great little market with all the veggies I cook with weekly, there was nothing different and unusual.  The main reason to go to the Ferry Building is because there is always stuff there that you look at and go "What the hell is that and where did it come from", but in a good way.

Nevertheless, I am going to cook beets and artichokes and spring onions different than I have ever cooked them before.  It's exciting, trust me.

International Food R Us

You know when someone tells you about a fantastic place that is right around the corner from you and you've never even heard of it and you're like, "It can't be all that or else I would have heard of it" and then you go and there's tons of spices and beans and pomegranate molasses and grape leaves and tamarind concentrate and you're all "Woah, it IS all that and more" and you can't believe you hadn't been there once in the past year that you have been working practically next door?

Well, that's what happened when I finally visited the International Food Warehouse a block away from my work.  I had heard on Chowhound that there was a middle-eastern grocery there and so, in search of grape leaves, I went to check it out.  A bag full of sumac, feta, grape leaves, fresh pita, tamarind concentrate and pomegranate molasses later, and I was happy as a clam.  They have tons of dried herbs, breads, cheeses, jarred sauces, canned vegetables and halal meat.  Almost everything is middle eastern inspired, though there are many items that could be found at a fancy grocery.  Check it out. (By the way, they do not sell lunch food, much to my dismay, only groceries).

International Food Warehouse
1684 Gilbreth Road
Burlingame, CA 94010
(650) 692-1450

Spring Has Sprung All Over the Place

The first sign is the blooming of those trees that you never really noticed before, suddenly puffed pink and white blossoms that create a snowy carpet after it rains.  Bunches of fennel and asparagus, nettles and watermelon radish rabe, beets and artichokes - the farmer's market has blown up!  And then there's the flowers - iris, daffodil, narcissus, ranunculus, tulips - bustin' out all over, and the wildflowers carpeting the hills...I don't think there is a better time of the year.

I went way overboard at the Ferry Plaza Farmer's Market this weekend, and will be making my way through my vegetables this week.  Beets, baby lettuces, nettles, puntarella, watermelon radish rabe, asparagus, leeks - OH MY!  Despite the forecast of a miserable weekend, there was not a drop of rain after 9:00 a.m. Saturday and the day was absolutley perfect.  Go support your farmers!

You know it's love when...

... you get an OXO Mandoline for Valentines Day.  It's a beautiful, beautiful thing.  And I will NOT be tempted to NOT use the guard as the last time I did that, I ended up in the Emergency Room.

Last night I sliced a cucumber. Simple, I know, but what perfection!  Every slice exactly the same as it's sibling slice!  No thin on the top, thick on the bottom slices!  Uniformity, sameness, a harmony of precision!  Ah, the possibilities.  Not that I'm known for needing everything I slice, dice and mince to be the same size.  No. Not at all.  Ahem.  Imagine: identical strips of julienned carrots.  I leave you to ponder that image.