And...It's a Girl!

Sorry for the radio silence here on the blog, folks.  I've been kind of busy over the last week as we were in the hospital for the arrival of our baby girl.  She arrived early Thanksgiving morning and she's all we could have hoped for and more.  We truly have something to be thankful for this year.

It was a bumpy ride, but Mom and baby are doing wonderful and I'm working hard to get this father thing down-pat (I think I'm doing pretty well so far).

Now onward with the blogging...

Where I've Been...

I just wanted to take a moment to explain the sudden stream of silence on my blog over the last few days...  As you probably know, Rhode Island was hit by Hurricane Irene and we had something close to 75% power outages including most of the main power distribution network.

Needless to say, we've been "camping" in our home for the last few days (no lights or running water) and it's looking at this point like we're more or less last on the list of places to fix.  Everyone is fine and we've sustained more or less no damage to the house or any of our property (the barn got a little "dent" in the tin roof from a falling tree but nothing terrible).

Once we have power again, I'll try to post with my regular frequency.  Maybe I'll even have some fun tips about what to do when your freezer is rapidly in melt-down mode.  :-)

Until then, keep us in your thoughts and good luck to those of you in the same or similar positions!

Vinegar Peppers, How I love Thee

There's an Italian restaurant around here by the name of Uncle Tony's that serves a fantastic antipasto salad.  White quite Americanized (it's served over a bed of iceberg lettuce), the spirit of the classic composed antipasto platter is present through the multitude of delicious "things from jars" and "things from the deli" that adorn the nearly meal-like appetizer.  There's marinated mushrooms, artichoke hearts, slices of provolone, salami, and cappicola (spicy ham).  There's albacore tuna, hot pepperoncini peppers, roasted reds, cecci beans (chickpeas), and black olives, just to name a few.

The salad topping my wife and I like the most, however, is a little thing called a "vinegar pepper."  I think you have to be somewhat masochistic in order to love such a food the way we do.  They're nothing more than green bell peppers that have been pickled in an almost straight vinegar solution, but the result is a pucker so tart that it makes your eyes roll up in their sockets.  And then you instantly crave more...  It's sick.  Really, it is.

I'm not one for hot foods.  I usually leave the cayenne, the habenero sauce, and the tobasco to those who thrive on firey heat.  I like to be able to taste the underlying food, thank you very much.  But when it comes to vinegary pickles, sign me up!  When it comes to eating Sour Patch Kids candy by the fistful, I'm your man.  Need someone to polish-off that kosher dill that came with your sandwich?  Give-er-here.  And IMHO, vinegar peppers are the pickle to end all pickles (at least in terms of tartness).

If you're interested in trying vinegar peppers, a company by the name of Pastene imports and sells them.  They're sold in most major supermarkets throughout New England, though I don't know about availability elsewhere.  A good Italian specialty food store may have them.  This summer, I'll be working on a recipe to make your own but my previous attempts were less than stellar.  If I succeed, I'll be sure and post the result.

Coming Soon... (And a Fantastic Recipe)

Hey everyone!  Sorry about the "radio silence" as of late.  It's Autumn in New England, my favorite season, and hings have been a bit crazy at my regular job during the week.  We just finished up a huge project at work and the weekends have been filled with family gatherings, much-needed work on the house, and other obligations.

Never fear, however...  I have plenty that we've been doing over the past week or two to share with you.  Here's a brief highlight until I can get the individual posts written:

• Apple and Pumpkin Picking
• Making and Canning Applesauce and Apple Butter
• Making dried apples (something new I've never tried before)
• Update on my Autumn garden
• More tomato canning...
• A recipe for Roasted Tomato Soup
• And more...

Since I don't have any photos to share, I'll leave you instead with a link to a totally delicious recipe that I tried this week.  The recipe is Apple Slab from King Arthur Flour.  At first glance, it seems like apple pie turned into a bar but trust me, it's much more than that.  Give it a try...even if you need to cheat and use pre-made pie crust (I won't tell).

Happy Autumn!

An Autumn Treat: Staying at An Inn

Something that has become sort of an autumn tradition for my wife and I is staying at our favorite Bed & Breakfast Inn in Southern Maine.  Aside from being a bit romantic, Inn's are a great and more personal way to see an area without the commercial feeling of a hotel vacation.

At many smaller Inns, the Innkeepers are a family or a husband and wife team and they live right there at the Inn, on the premises, or nearby.  They're invested in the community as members and as small business owners.  You can't really get any closer to "Main Street, USA."

Innkeepers are full of knowledge of the local area.  It's like having your own personal breakfast chef AND concierge.  Because they live there, they can often recommend off-the-beaten-path areas to visit or dine.  You really get an experience that you just can't get in a hotel.

If you're planning to take an autumn or winter vacation this year, consider staying at an Inn.  After the foliage season, you can often get great prices because it is past their peak season and they sometimes just want to keep the rooms full.

The photos above are from stays at The Pinecrest Inn in Gorham, Maine and the Old Tavern Inn in Grafton, VT.

The Importance of Water Filters

If anyone tells you your brita water filter is silly and that their water, "Tastes just fine," show them this photo:

That is the whole-house filter from our home after just 3 months of use.  Its original color was pure white.

Granted, we have a well and not city water, but still...  You don't realize how much sediment and crap your water has in it.  Even city water systems, while treated at the source, pick-up "stuff" in the pipes through which it travels to your home.  Plus, a granulated active carbon (GAC) filter like the one found on Brita systems can remove chlorine tastes and odors that may be perfectly okay health-wise but are otherwise unpleasant.

For various reasons, we installed a whole-house filter system that consists of a fiber filter (the dirty brown one) and a GAC filter (the blue one).  The fiber filter picks-up most of the dirt and sediment and the GAC picks-up odors, tastes, microscopic things, and even Radon, which we have a very small amount of in our well water.

Most homes can benefit from an "under the counter" or "point of use" filter on the kitchen sink.  It's similar but doesn't require major plumbing to install.  We had one in our condo and it was worth every penny.

The Chipwich

A couple weeks ago, my co-workers and I went out to Whole Foods to get lunch.  While there, one of the guys picked-up a "Chipwich" from the bakery.

The darned thing looks all innocent enough until you figure out that that's not ice cream.  It's about an inch and a half of buttercream frosting.  According to the sticker (which may or may not be accurate), it weighs-in at a third of a pound.  That means we're probably talking about a whole stick of butter just in the frosting.

Of course, when we went back yesterday, I had to try one.  They're only two bucks (which is a steal for Whole Foods).

I can only say that it's every bit as sickeningly sweet as you'd think it'd be.  I love frosting but this dessert is just a little too over-the-top.  I managed to get maybe 1/2 of it down in one sitting and shared the rest with friends.

Total recipe for a stomach ache...

Over The Top Halloween Costumes

Okay, so this isn't food related, but I just had to share...  Apparently, thanks to the miracles of the modern COID (Change Of Address Information Database), the Lillian Vernon catalog found us at our new home in Scituate.  As I'm turning the pages, the first 10 or so are devoted to some pretty intense children's Halloween costumes.  Wanted to share a few superlatives...

Most Expensive - Goes to this Dorothy costume.  If you add-up the dress, the hair, the ruby slippers, and stuffed Toto in a basket, it comes out to just under $80.  For a kid?  For a Halloween costume period?  No way.

Friggin Cutest - Maybe it's the geek in me, but I'd definitely shell-out the twenty-five bucks for this Yoda costume if I had a little rug-rat to put in it.

Skankiest/Most Inappropriate - It was hard to choose one for this category.  Many of the outfits, IMHO, were not fit for a little girl.  However, the Gothic Ballerina won.  Call it what you want, it's still a Bar Wench costume.  It's just missing the tankard of beer.

Most Current Events Appropriate - The Michael Jackson one, of course.  Too bad the whole thing is al-la-carte.  Just the glove is $8.98...are you kidding me?

Um...Yeah - I'm really not sure what to call this one.  Part of me is like, "Neat!  A Pizza Costume!"  The other part of me is thinking about all the hub-bub about child obesity over the past year and the message this is sending.

Even Cuter - Okay...so I lied about the Yoda costume.  The Smurfs set is even better.  However, didn't someone tell the model casting director that Smurfs are mostly naked and only the boy Smurfs wear pants?

Most Engineer Friendly - The Mr. Potato Head one sweeps this category with its Velcro removable parts.  Nice touch.

I could go on and on but I won't bore you.  However, I will say that Lillian Vernon did not pay me to mention all of these--they simply made me smile and I wanted to share them.

A Conversation With Julia Child

Julia: ...and about a half a bottle of white wine.
Jacques: Half a bottle? I thought the recipe said half a cup.
Julia: That's not my recipe.

A "Head" of Broccoli

This week, I decided to try Peapod, an online grocery delivery service provided by one of the supermarket chains in our area. I've never tried it before because I don't really want to pay a delivery charge and tip and because I like to pick out my own produce. However, things have been busy, so I thought I'd give it a try...just for giggles.

Their website is quite user-friendly and gives you at least 4 ways to shop, including the ability to shop from a list of stuff you bought during trips to the store itself. Pretty neat. However, their produce is sold by the piece, not by the pound and lunch meat is sold in pre-set amounts and slicing thicknesses that don't seem to be consistent. I assume this is to make the warehouse pickers' jobs easier and more idiot-proof.

Anyway, the order arrived...a little late. Although, I must give them credit for calling twice to tell me they'd be late and ask if it was okay. The driver was very nice and clearly, his driving route was not planned very well (he told us where he'd been and was going).

I have to chuckle, though. This is my "1 head" of broccoli:

The salt there is for perspective. I weighed the head and it's just over 5oz. I paid a buck for it. Methinks they need to re-think their packaging strategy. :-)

Some other thoughts (not necessarily complaints):

• Your groceries arrive in a dozen or so plastic shopping bags. It'd be nice to have the option of paper or reusable crates that you pay a deposit on and return or something like that.
• My driver tells me that our local Peapod fulfillment center is the upper floor of a store at least 35 minutes drive from here. He delivers throughout RI and into southeastern MA. Sounds like a rather big, inefficient coverage area for a handful of drivers. That's probably why he was late.
  
• The delivery times they give you are pretty flexible and you get discounts for choosing larger time windows. Unfortunately, they all start on the hour and have minimum 2-hour time blocks. So, if you work until 5pm (as most people do), you miss the 5-7 time block and have to take the 6-8 block. If they'd start them on the half-hour, they'd have a better chance of running efficiently for those who work (who are probably the primary users of the service, as Granny doesn't tend to be web-savvy).
• The search tool on the website doesn't work very well. Even if you type nearly the exact name of what you want, you get a list of 20+ items in the results.

So, has anyone else out there ever used grocery delivery or an online grocery service before? How was your experiment?

Hi All!

Finally back from our trip to Florida. I don't have time just now for a full-blown post, but I do want to throw a bunch of food-related thoughts at you with the few minutes I do have:

Awesome Spice Shop
While hanging out at John's Pass, I happened upon The Spice and Tea Exchange (www.spiceandtea.com). This little store had more spices, dried herbs, specialty salts, gourmet teas, dry rubs, and other awesome things than you can possibly imagine. We're talking walls full of spices in jars that you're encouraged to open and sniff. They even make their own spice blends in-store and there are some fantastic, fragrant combos. I picked up a Tuscan blend for myself that I can't wait to try. At approx. $4.95/oz, it's only slightly more expensive than that teeny McCormick jar you have in the cupboard and a whole lot fresher.

I encourage you to check-out their website. If you'd like to order, please do call the John's Pass store directly. The stores are franchises and the gentleman there was so helpful that I'd really like to throw some business their way. Plus, I get the impression that each store has its own collection of in-store blends, so you might get a different variety by calling each store direct to see what they have or what they can recommend for your particular piece of meat, fish, or poultry.

On Fresh Corn...
It appears that Florida is cranking-out sweet corn on the cob in the off-season this year and it's pretty darned delicious. I happened to find some at my local Dave's Market here in Rhode Island and I sampled some directly in Florida from a Publix and it's delicious. Also, it seems to keep well for a few days in the fridge, which is uncommon for corn. If you find some in your store, grab it...especially the variety with the white and yellow mixed kernels.

Pork-a-licious
It's not often that I rave about chain restaurants but I happened to have the rosemary pork tenderloin at Olive Garden the other day and...wow. I'm speechless. Tender, juicy. Maybe could have a bit more flavor to the sauce, but the accompanying roasted potatoes make up for that. Do spend the extra buck and try it if you happen to eat there in the near future. It almost makes the 90 minute wait with no reservations or call-aheads policy worth it.

That's all for now. Stay tuned...more to come!

Friday Randomness

Just a few random thoughts for Friday, in no particular order:

• My wife and I will be away on vacation this coming week in Florida. We are sorely in need of some "downtime" away from home and I suspect white sandy beaches will be good therapy. I'm also looking forward to two of my favorite Florida food indulgences: Waffle House, and Steak & Shake. Yum.
• I stopped into the library the other day hoping to pick-up a copy of Mark Bittman's new book, Food Matters. I happened to read a chapter or two at the bookstore and it's fantastic--a very common sense approach to eating locally, earth-conscious and healthy and losing weight as a side-effect. Unfortunately, there are 26 copies in the state library system and 83 people on the waitlist. I kid you not. I decided to purchase a copy and donate it to the library when I'm done. :-) For those who don't know, Mark wrote How to Cook Everything, a hefty tome larger than Julia Child's first cookbook.
  
• My container garden (which I haven't written much about yet, but I will) is starting to come together. A friend of mine with a very green thumb will be watering it while I'm away and I'm hoping his green thumb rubs off on it a bit. :-) This year, in addition to my herb box, I'm hoping to get a few cherry tomatoes, maybe some sweet banana peppers, a few heads of garlic, onions, and butter crisp lettuce. I've traditionally had difficulty with peppers and tomatoes because my third-floor balcony has a wide overhang and no direct sun. The plants grow well, but the fruit never ripens and the yield is low. However, I'm trying smaller fruits this year in hope that they can get away with less sun and ripen quicker.
• According to @Foodimentary on Twitter, today is national Chocolate Parfait day. Need an excuse to gorge yourself on chocolate...there you go!

That's all for now. See you when we return from the sunshine state!