Middle West Meals

People Knowing My Name...

2011-12-06T23:04:00.001-05:00

It's hard for me to pick a place where everyone might know my name. I'll blame my parents and myself for that, because they gave me a hard-to-pronounce name and then I made it worse by hyphenating my last name when I got married.

However, there are a few places that I really love to go, because I am recognized and valued there. Three essential spots:

The Red Key - Lana knows my name, which is the most important part, because I love Lana. Everyone else is lovely, too, and we always run into friends here.

I like the Red Key so much I bring finger puppets there.

The Monon Coffee Company, either location - it's kind of funny that someone who seldom drinks coffee (me) would feel so much at home at a coffee shop, but I do. It doesn't hurt that they have Rene's delectable almond croissants and pumpkin bread, as well as a clientele (and staff) that typically includes a friend or two.
Yats, early crew on College - I love the Yats crew, Joe and all the good guys at the counter. They always welcome me, noticed when I lost weight this year, even though I go there one-tenth of the amount that I used to (it's not close to work any more), are respectfully flirty, and always ask how my husband is.

It's fun to go places where people know me, but it's even better that I get to go places where I know people - you know what I mean?

This post is a part of #thinkkit11.

Best Event of 2011 (for me)

2011-12-05T20:42:00.003-05:00

2011 had a lot of events in it. I saw some exciting speakers, participated in good conversations, laughed, cried, all that, thanks to all the exciting people making cool stuff happen in Indianapolis.

Still, my favorite event was Tonic Indy. The event benefits Second Helpings, where - full disclosure - my guy works. Tons of my friends contribute, in the form of visual artistry, musical stylings and/or cool-kid volunteering. Every planning meeting is fun (I co-chair the Tonic Gallery and provide a lot of social media support to the whole event). Each conversation about Tonic, with artists, musicians, press, friends, anyone, is a pleasure.

Why I loved it even more than usual: This was the 10th Tonic Ball. We raised over $40K - all of which will go to feeding hungry neighbors and providing job training for unemployed and underemployed people. We got Ken Honeywell an amazing custom-designed suit in the style of Nudie, created by the undeniably talented Jerry Lee Atwood, to honor Ken's decade-long contribution as a founder and leader of the event.

And these things happened.

This post is a part of #thinkkit11.

2011 Best Meal: The Mayan Cafe in Louisville

2011-12-04T20:11:00.003-05:00

My best meal of 2011 is actually a tie, but because I already mentioned the $5 Slow Food Challenge pitch-in, I'm declaring the meal I had at the Mayan Cafe in Louisville the best meal of 2011.

The Tok-Sel Lima Beans, picture via the Mayan Cafe

The Food
Chef Bruce Ucan knows what he is doing here, combining Yucatan food traditions with local products. The flavor combinations here, which included generous servings of Capriole goat cheese, amazing spice combinations best evidenced by the Tok-Sel Lima Beans and seasonal produce, were surprising in the best possible way. Case in point: Ben's brisket chilaquiles featured sweet potatoes in place of the traditional tortillas. Another case in point: the salbutes (sort of like extra-crispy and flat sopes) are changed up to match what is available each week; ours had a mix of vegetables, cheese and crisp cabbage and came with a firey-fresh dipping sauce.

The Space & Service
The Mayan Cafe is located on Market, a street that is dotted with great places to eat, in a pretty small space that was absolutely full (but not uncomfortably packed) when we ate there. The room is just-barely decorated with photographs, dark walls, and low lighting - it lets the food be the star. Our server was attentive, excited about the food, but appropriately restrained. When I asked him about ingredients in some of the dishes, he was excited to share both what he knew and his own appreciations of the food. Louisville seems to be full of restaurants like this - intimate, special, but not overly fussy, and staffed by people who are genuinely thrilled about the food.

The Occasion
Ben and I like to go on a trip each year around our anniversary; this year we went to Madison, IN and Louisville.
It's usually a long weekend. We tend to eat a lot, spend at least one night at a state park (hiking!), and take it very easy. I love these vacations, especially because we intentionally take at least one night to get a bit gussied up and head out to a great place.
In Louisville, I'd say that we did that about four times (dinner at the Hillbilly Tea Room, a mid-day stop at Proof on Main, breakfast at Toast on Market & several hours spent in the lobby of the Brown, where we stayed) but the Mayan Cafe was the most surprising and delightful experience for me.

This post is part of @thinkkit11.

Favorite Read of the Year

2011-12-03T22:23:00.003-05:00

2011 will go down as the year in which novels and I did not get along. Right around page 42 or 153 or 209, we would split up, or at least separate. But like many exes, they lingered - on my nightstand, in my car, in tote bags and purses.

Seeing that novels and I just couldn't make it work, I turned to short stories.

My favorite read this year came from My Mistress's Sparrow Is Dead, a collection of love stories (and not-quite-love stories) edited by Jeffrey Eugenides. It came out a few years ago, full of really good and not especially new stories.

"What We Talk About When We Talk About Love" by Raymond Carver is three decades old. It's also a canonical story from a very important 20th century writer who also happens to be one of my husband's favorite writers. In other words, I am very late to this game. This story, in addition to having Carver's characteristic inclusion of alcohol consumption, ordinary people and brevity, has searingly realistic but somehow still lyrical dialogue. It's like harsh reality, but upgraded and poetic, with characters who talk about something really important in exquisitely human terms.

It's the kind of story that recognizes what is sad about life while also dousing that sadness with honest beauty. I'm just really glad I read it.

Favorite Album of the Year AKA Cop Out 2

2011-12-02T18:20:00.001-05:00

Do you ever find yourself wondering why everyone has to rank things all time? Why everything needs to be a competition? Then, you are like me.

If you also find yourself being overly competitive in games like Big Boggle, Trivial Pursuit, Badminton & who-made-the-best-dish-at-this-pitch-in, you are also like me.

That's what makes me an enigma. Or just contradictory. You pick.

In any case, when asked by SmallBox, "You know SmallBox likes the rock. We can't resist asking about your album of the year. Why did it grab you?" I came up with two answers: (1) the album that was released this year that I consider best and (2) the album that I enjoyed the most this year, regardless of release date. Both are great for party music. The first is good for cocktail time, the second for dance time.

In category one, I offer you the latest TV on the Radio album. They could turn Radiohead and start putting out things that make no sense and I would likely still pick them. However, this is not that moment. This album perfectly combines their booty-motivating beats with an atmospheric 80s feel, for me. And I could listen and chair-dance to "Keep Your Heart" for 24 hours straight. "Will Do" ain't no slouch, either.

In category two, I implore you to listen to the B-52s eponymous release from 1979, the year of my birth. It's got "Rock Lobster", "Dance This Mess Around" (how does one dance the Shy Turnip?) and some of the most outrageously dance-able songs ever recorded, but I'm particularly fond of "52 Girls". Ben and I have listened to this album repeatedly, on vinyl, and it never fails to make me happy, more energetic and generally appreciative of life.

Picture of the Year: 2011 AKA The Cop Out

2011-12-01T17:09:00.003-05:00

Sometimes, a girl stops blogging, but she misses it. This has been one of those occasions. I'm taking on a little adventure, thanks to SmallBox, to get me back in the blogging habit. It's the ThinkKit. First up, my favorite picture of the year. And I'm starting with a cop out. You're going to get three pictures.

Here we go, yo.


Fragrant Eggs from Duos from the time that Sara Leah visited the new house.

Why I love this photo:
In addition to working like a woman on a mission by day, I've also helped my friends at Duos out a little bit with their social media by night and weekend. I love working with them because good friends are hard to come by, and good friends who make the most amazing food I have ever eaten are rare indeed. Chefs Becky & John, as well as Anthony & David, are great people making great food. These eggs are from Duos.

My friend Sara Leah is similarly special, a true gem with smarts, humor, enthusiasm and fortitude in the face of whatever comes her way. Also, we like the same odd-ball things and books. These eggs are from when Sara Leah came to visit and we went to Duos.

A picture at the new house from the Slow Food $5 Challenge dinner party that new friend Kate and I hosted.

Why I love this photo:

This was the beginning of a delightful night with a group of friends who each brought $5 or less worth of slow food to contribute to a collective feast. It wouldn't have been possible without Kate, whom I got to know through one of my favorite community events this year.

Also, it's at our new house, which I love!

This was just a really good moment.

Why I love this photo:

If you don't like this, too, I'm not sure that we can be friends. I mean, I'm open to being your friend in that case, but we'll need to discuss the value of Hammer Time.

Plus, when I saw this, the next thing that happened was lots of laughing with Ben, which is maybe my favorite activity in the world (tied with eating good food).

A Drink at the White Rabbit Cabaret

2010-07-30T10:00:00.000-04:00

People, Fountain Square is fantastic. In addition to my favorite rock music venue (with my favorite bar bathrooms) Radio Radio, they've got delightful little and large restaurants. The neighborhood hosts the Tonic Ball. Fountain Square residents walk around on their sidewalks and happily chat up neighbors and strangers alike. It's got a good vibe, a mix of arty, folksy, edgy and welcoming.

White Rabbit's killer neon sign

Given these qualities, it should be no surprise that one of the newest additions to the neighborhood - the White Rabbit Cabaret - is a great place to catch a burlesque or low-key songwriter show - or, in my case, just get a drink with my guy on a quiet, show-less night. (If you're wondering about the other new addition to Fountain Square, the New Day Meadery tasting room, I'll be getting to that in another post soon.)

With a great selection of craft beers, as well as select wine and sake choices, this is a great post-work stop on a weekday night. While the room is definitely designed for a much larger crowd (fire marshall capacity is 175 people), the friendly service and other patrons made it feel cozy and comfortable. Our bartender-operator, Andrew, was fun to talk to, shared some upcoming ideas for enhancing the already-impressive selection.

My Zipang - with a backdrop of the bottled beer selection

But onto the drinks: Andrew let us have a sample of the on-tap New Albanian's Beak's Best - a nice combination of a hoppy first-taste with a bitter finish. Though that was tasty, Ben ended up getting a glass of the Sun King Firefly Wheat - also on tap (as was PBR). I got a mini-bottle of Zipang sparkling sake, which was a pleasant surprise to me, combining sweetness with a borderline-buttery taste and a slow stream of tiny bubbles. They also have a great list of bottled craft beers - seems like a fun place to explore new lines from all across the country, as well as some international brews.

While I'm excited to head back when they have a show - check out the calendar for the crazy-fun and often risque shows - I also think this is a great place to wind down on a weeknight. Plus, they toss out calendar updates, good specials and drink updates on their Facebook page on a semi-regular basis, so it's easy to stay in the loop.

Location: 1116 Prospect St. Indianapolis, IN and/or the door underneath the neon white rabbit

Support for Seldom Seen Farm's Kelly Funk

2010-07-19T10:01:00.001-04:00

Seldom Seen Farm is a lovely place, run by Kelly Funk and John Ferree with moral support from their little girl Laila. It's also where I got my CSA share this year, after a couple of emails back and forth with Kelly. She was charming and serious about her food, so I felt thrilled to join the CSA.

As many of you already know, Kelly was struck by lightning while harvesting onions on the farm recently. She's in critical condition in the ICU, though John reports that she is making improvements and is stable.

I cannot imagine what it would be like to have this happen to a loved one.
I cannot imagine how the Seldom Seen Farm staff are keeping things going, but they are, representing the farm at markets and fielding what must be very difficult questions.

In times like this, it is good to have ways to help. There are two excellent opportunities available to you and me that allow this community to contribute support for what will be a long and hopefully steady recovery.

Donations can be made to the Kelly Funk Recovery Fund. You just have to note the name of the fund on the deposit slip at any Huntington Bank location. EDIT: Denise shared in the comments that you can donate online at www.kellyfunkrecoveryfund.com - an even easier way to share some financial love!
Slow Food Indy will host a benefit dinner for Kelly and her family. They'll serve up a sustainably harvested and deliciosly prepared New England Lobster Bake at the Apple Family Farm on Sunday, August 22. Tickest are $75/person and all proceeds will be donated to the Kelly Funk Recovery Fund. Get your tickets and check out the menu.

Many others are providing other opportunities to give, by collecting contributions at market tables or community events.You can also share words of support on the farm's Facebook page.

the delights of sour beer

2010-07-15T10:25:00.001-04:00

Unlike many local-drink enthusiasts, I am not a lover of brews that are heavy on the hops. Too often, these Hoppy McHopperson brews seem more like a dare than a drink, bordering on unpalatable. I know that many love them, and that's good, because that's what local and regional craft brewers seem to enjoy making.

When I'm drinking something special, something other than a highly drink-able Pilsner or light ale, I love a sour beer. I like sour things generally, enjoying granny smith apples more than red delicious and making vinaigrettes that are more vinegar than anything else. This sour love has me thrilled that Brugge is having a special sour beer night as part of the Indiana Beer Week.

While the full line-up of beer choices can be seen at Brugge's Facebook Profile, I am most excited that Brugge will be serving Bell's Poolside and their own Pooka. I had Poolside when we visited Kalamazoo last summer and liked its sweet-sour taste so much that I almost cried when it wasn't on tap when we re-visited Bell's two weeks ago.

this picture is bad, but the Pooka is good

But I'm also excited that more people might get to try the Pooka - an acidic, fresh drink that takes what is good about Lindeman's framboise and kriek - the brightness - and leaves what is bad - the sometimes cloying sweetness. Made with boysenberries, Pooka is refreshing, barely wheaty, beautfully colored, and delightfully sour. I love it.

Now, that we have a local place making and celebrating sours, hopefully malty beer is next. Just, please, anything but another hop-crazy drink.

Busy, busy weekends & Brother Juniper's booth.

2010-06-04T10:04:00.001-04:00

Did you love Brother Juniper's? Do you love free art festivals? Then get yourself to the Talbot Street Art Fair NEXT (edit, thanks to Kevin) weekend because the much-beloved and much-missed Brother Juniper's restaurant will have a booth at the event next Saturday and Sunday.

Juniper Berries, courtesy of the USDA

From 1978 to 2003, Brother Juniper's offered up sandwiches and other good food to patrons at several locations in the near-north side of Indianapolis. In recent years, they've had a booth at Penrod, but Penrod isn't free and Talbot Street is. In other words, if you've been craving a Happy Hermit since Brother Juniper's closing, you buy one next weekend without additional costs beyond the purchase price.

Other weekend recommendations:

Evans Woollen is featured in a super cool exhibit at IMOCA this weekend.
Woodruff Place will have its annual Flea Market this weekend.
Next weekend: Indianapolis Music and Art Festival (IMAF) will be just around the corner from the Talbot Fair.Next weekend:
Next weekend: The Italian Street Festival will be rocking the near-south side with cannoli, parades, and good times.

not another long term break

2010-05-13T17:45:00.000-04:00

Hey there. I'm super busy this week at the job, because we're making it possible for a few hundred kids to see the Dalai Lama speak and then have some meaningful conversation with one another afterward. It's kind of amazing.

I just wanted to let you know that I'm still eating, but not good stuff. That will come this weekend. Do you have any new recommendations for yummy places? Or food that you think would be good enough for His Holiness the Dalai Lama? Then comment it up, people!

Review: Napolese - first experience

2010-05-05T10:44:00.002-04:00

Normally, reviewing a restaurant in the first few weeks is a bad idea. They're still working out the kinks, getting their timing down, getting truly at home with the menu. But when the person in charge has been slinging omelets and croques monsieur for years, like Indianapolis restaurant maven Martha Hoover of Cafe Patachou and Petite Chou reknown, one need not delay dining at a new place. Martha's new restaurant, Napolese (subtitle: an artisanal pizzeria), is right next to Patachou's new-ish place at 49th and Pennsylvania, and it is good.

Ben and I went there following a visit to the Tara Donovan exhibit at the IMA (go, if you are at all art-adventurous, please go). We were told that it would be a 30 to 45 minute wait and, after reading over the menu, decided that the wait was worth it. We were offered some drinks; they have Sun King and Bell's in bottles and cans (those quirky Sun King guys), as well as a short list of wines, Italian sodas, more common sodas, and coffee and tea offerings. Ben got the Bell's Oberon, and I got the Sun King Cream Ale. I haven't been in love with any of the other Sun King brews that I've tried, they've been good but not great, tending a bit too much toward hoppiness for my taste. But the Cream Ale is yummy. I'm considering filling my fridge with those canned wonders. In any case, the waiting crowd was jovial and excited to try out the new pizza, so the wait was a pleasurable experience.

baked goat cheese at Napolese

Once we were seated in the cozy space, we'd had plenty of time to review the menu and ordered promptly. The food came even more promptly, which is what we wanted. We started with the baked goat cheese in tomato sauce. With a sauce-free pizza in mind, this dish gave us the chance to try out their tomato-sauce style. The cheese had tiny brown bubbles covering the surface, and the sauce was yummy, with a healthy dose of oregano for flavor. We scooped it all up quickly, smearing it across the toasted bread that accompanied the tangy cheese.

Smoked Salmon pizza at Napolese

As soon as we were done, our salad and pizza arrived, brought by our cheery and just-engaging-enough (read: attentive but not demanding attention) server. The salad, a large pile of arugula, raw mushrooms, nutty parmesan and simple oil-salt dressing, had the right amount of sharpness, though I imagine that a little bit of lemon might have added a nice additional note to the dish. It provided the perfect contrast to our smoked salmon pizza, served sans sauce and with delicious smoky salmon, capers, creme fraiche and little bits of roasted leeks. The leeks were so good that I've been dreaming of dishes to add roasted leeks to for the past five days, pretty much considering my options every 15 minutes. But the real story here, the story that is at the heart of this lovely little pizza place is the dough, the crust, the brown-black bubbles and chewy edges. The pizza is baked in a gas-fired, stonehearth oven. Each pie spends less than two minutes baking with an open flame lending a pleasing toasty taste to the crust. We finished up our meal with a scoop of pistachio gelato, made by midwest-food-mecca Zingerman's. It was the best pistachio gelato I've ever eaten, rich, full of pistachio flavor and without green food coloring, and the second-best gelato I've ever eaten (the best is the chestnut from this great little New Orleans place). I've never been to Italy, so take that with a grain of all-American salt.

Am I going back? You betcha! I can't wait to try eat the Buffalo Margherita (roasted grape tomatoes, buffalo mozzarella, basil), the Broken Yolk (classic Margherita with an egg cracked on top) and whatever combinations I come up with that use some lovely freestyle ingredients including fingerling potatoes, wild mushrooms, roasted eggplant and, of course, those leeks. I'm not actually a regular of Patachou or Petite Chou - I appreciate them, but I'm not drinking the kool-aid here (have never actually liked kool-aid). This is just really good pizza, warm and capable service, a nice atmosphere, and a really good menu.

the prettiest melons of all

2010-05-04T15:43:00.001-04:00

picture nabbed from Thebarefootshaman's etsy shop where

you can find many seeds that result in gorgeous veg and fruit

People may be going crazy for square watermelons, but I have a produce crush on these pretty "the moon and the stars" watermelons, seeds for which are for sale on Etsy. You love them, too, right? (via Black*Eiffel)

Dine out for life today!

2010-04-29T09:49:00.001-04:00

On the day after Elton John's apparently amazing (everyone was buzzing about it) performance at Clowes last night here in Indy, I want to remind you that tonight you can eat out and see 25% to 50% of your bill go to support HIV/AIDS prevention and cure by the Damien Center.

Click on over to the Dining Out for Life website to choose from a slew of restaurants including Adobo, Petite Chou, Hoaglin, Bazbeaux's & Santorini's (and a bunch more).

The Damien Center is a great place doing important work. This is a lovely opportunity to eat out and make a little bit of impact for a disease that, yes, still impacts people here in our local community and to support an organization that continues to work on outreach and prevention of HIV/AIDS.

Well, hello, Papa Roux.

2010-04-22T11:22:00.001-04:00

Ben and I grabbed lunch at Papa Roux last weekend. Given the super-positive recommendation of a certain nit-picky (that's a good thing) chef and the generally vegetarian-friendly menu, this was definitely a long-overdue visit. My return, however, will be rapid.

Papa Roux - from the outside

Because of their generous side dish policy (as in, you can have as many side dishes as you want with your main course for FREE!), Ben and I got to taste a bit of everything. My little bowl of red beans and rice was probably my favorite dish, with just the right amount of richness in the mildly spiced beans. I got the plain etouffee for my main dish - it was good, mild and made with a light roux, but super-duper rich. I'll keep that in side-dish territory for the future. Ben's roast pork po' boy was a sight, dripping with their creamy "Vouxdoux" sauce and packed with fresh cole slaw. They offer a grilled onion po' boy and that will definitely be my pick on my next visit. We also got some cornbread, which was excellent for dunking into the beans and the etouffee, and the nutmeg-rich bread pudding custard. I adore nutmeg, so Papa Roux's rich, eggy concoction met every bread pudding desire I didn't know I had. In addition to those free sides (apple sauce, french bread, creole and coleslaw are other options), you can get free iced tea - sweet or not-sweet. They also have Zapp's N'awlins chips, a rare experience in Indiana. I nabbed more that a few of Ben's dill variety.

Unfortunately, it was all so good that I didn't take pictures

until we were already done eating. Bad blogger.

The atmosphere at Papa Roux pairs perfectly with the dishes. From the front counter to the food runners, all the staff are friendly, helpful and excited about their food. The walls are decorated with customer graffiti, a fun distraction to explore while waiting for the food to arrive. The workaday dishes and paper-wrapped po' boys provide a relaxed, approachable presentation for the food. On each table - most are large, as was ours, so we ended up sharing with three other folks - a paper napkin dispenser and jumbo Louisiana hot sauce bottle will take care of your basic necessities. The location just west of Post on 10th street, easily identified by the matter of fact and bold building sign, may be a bit of a drive for non-East-siders, but it is so worth it.

Customer wall graffiti

Ben and I keep talking about it; my cravings for those red beans and rice are at a fever-pitch. Allegedly, he'll be going there for lunch today. I'm completely jealous.

the Feminine Food Condition

2010-04-20T12:37:00.001-04:00

Well, there certainly have been some interesting articles about food in news sources over the last week. NUVO's informative article about factory livestock farming had me, as expected, nodding my head in agreement and admiring Hoosier advocates for healthier farming practices. The widespread reporting on KFC's new double down "sandwich" has me doing less head-nodding, but such is life. What has me thinking the most and reflecting on my own life is the NYTimes Magazine article "The Fat Trap." This article, which is essentially about the hand-wringing challenge of trying to raise a daughter who is healthy and does not possess a "complicated" relationship with food, made me really sad.

Print by johnwgolden for sale on etsy.

Not sure if this approach is advocated by Orenstein or me.

Essentially, Peggy Orenstein writes a lot about the Obama's public conversations about the health and weight of their daughters, the statistics of both eating disorders and obesity, a little about the problem of Berkley moms (why not dads?) being overly competitive and judgmental about food sources and a little bit more about her own attempts to raise a daughter who "watches her size and accepts her body". Her approach is a "conscious antidiet" and "studied unconcern" when dealing with food and her weight, tossing out the scale and not fetishizing food. But, despite these efforts, she still has a six-year-old daughter asking her to stay slim.

This is all just depressing for me, as a woman who loves food and who tries each day to make food a health or enjoyment choice and not a moral choice. I made it through years of childhood dance classes, recitals and competition as a perfectionist kid who, amazingly, never adopted a lot of the diet dysfunction of many dancers who surrounded me. I also grew up in a house where we had lots of food choices, mostly healthy, and with parents who seldom, if ever, commented on people's appearances. Though my dad ate lots of junk food and took me along to eat with him, we always had fruit around, too. And none of our choices felt morally coded.

To be honest, I've usually been a little bit on the "rounder" side of healthy, maybe because I love food, maybe because I'm less active than I'd like to be. I've had moments where I've been unhappy about how I look, but in the end, I'm most unhappy that I care so much. What I've found as an adult is that it's hard to spend much time with talented, accomplished, whipsmart women without hearing a lot about diets or calories. I've also found, at times, that it's hard not to join in. I'm not a mother, might not ever be, but I do know that I don't want the girls I know to spend their energy on worrying about looks, obsessing about the scale, or experimenting with unhealthy diets. There's much more to life.

I would really like to live in a world where we would address issues of women's weight as health issues, not as moral issues. And I'd like us to begin seeing boys' and girls' health on equal terms. If we want girls to stop pleading with their mothers to remain not-fat, then we need to realize that this is in many ways a gender issue and one that women tend to self-perpetuate. We also need to recognize that two parents are involved in raising kids, typically, and that it's not just up to mothers to help kids develop healthy relationships with food and exercise.

Seeking Springy Home Dish Delights

2010-04-15T16:51:00.005-04:00

Spring has taken me completely by surprise. I wasn't ready for this warm weather; and I wasn't ready to change my dining habits to move from the comfort foods of summer to the light flavors of spring. In fact, I'm kind of having a low-food-interest slump, which is putting a serious damper on meals at home. Instead of tinkering in the kitchen, I find myself picking up take-out and eating it like a sad sack in front of the TV. No good! I want to stay in with my guy and eat lovely dishes full of spring flavors, but I just can't get it together.

Ashley G's lovely, springy print,

inspiring me to want to stay in and cook.

I know I should be out scouting for ramps and looking for asparagus, maybe even some fresh peas or morels (my boss found a half dozen of them today), perhaps lemons and bright leafy greens, but it doesn't sound all that exciting to me to eat any of that stuff. I made some minty mushed peas last month for a little dinner with friends, which were delicious and new-tasting, but since them I'm just boring myself in the kitchen. And I'm hoping you can help. Pretty please?

Do you have any great ideas for home dining flavors that I'm just forgetting about - those that combine this season's in-season good and maybe some new flavors?

Chew on This

2010-04-08T15:28:00.000-04:00

The good folks at the Indiana Humanities Council have planned another exciting food-focused community event, Chew on This, scheduled for the evening of May 4th. This event - really a set of communal dining experiences - is designed to spark conversation about utilizing Indiana's agricultural and artisanal food strengths to position the state globally. There are fifteen locations, from pitch-ins to pricier options (up to $50 per plate at places like R Bistro and Recess) all around town, and each location is limited to 20 participants.

Get more information at the Indiana Humanities Council website. If you're interested, you might want to jump on this opportunity immediately, given the limited seats.

Advocating on behalf of (1) food carts and (2) a vacation to Portland

2010-04-07T11:36:00.004-04:00

Portland, OR - 2009
Originally uploaded by robjtak

If you like fries as much as I do AND you like the idea of late night eating as much as I think you do, then you should understand why Indianapolis needs food carts to be more "allowed" and we all need to take a vacation to Portland. People, I am writing to you in favor of poutine.

That box full of fry goodness is from a little food cart called Potato Champion in Portland, OR. What's on top of those awesome fried potatoes? It's cheese curd and gravy. That combination, a culinary superstar from Quebec, Canada, is known as poutine. And, in Portland, you can get it vegan or vegetarian style. Looks like this little lady is either going to have to start protesting for food-cart-friendly laws or plan a trip to the Pacific northwest. Which path should I take?

(This post was totally inspired by Not Martha and her jealousy-inducing report on the poutine.)

Russel Settle will be missed.

2010-04-05T10:44:00.002-04:00

My husband, Ben, received a phone call from our friend and his coworker Nora Spitznogle yesterday, sharing some sad news. Russel Settle, longtime owner of the Red Key, passed away at home early Sunday. He owned the Red Key for 59 years and had just turned 92 on Valentine's Day.

As I'm sure you may know, the Red Key is a neighborhood anchor in the eastern part of Meridian Kessler. Located at the corner of College and 52nd, it's a cozy place, steeped in tradition, with the most charming jukebox of any place I've ever been. It's also the first place that I had a real conversation with Ben (we met at the Melody, but that was a bit too loud for a good talk). On an early date with Ben, we sat on stools at the Red Key bar. As Russel served us, he gave Ben a hard time, asking me what I was doing, hanging out with a guy like that. And Ben loved it; he's a third-generation Red Key-er. So did I.

Russel's Red Key is one of my favorite places in town. There's no artifice, not shiny surfaces, just lots of heart and the best not-too-fancy whiskey sour in town. Their Manhattans are delicious, too. But the Red Key's beauty isn't about the drinks; it's about the warmth and real-ness of the place. There are also the rules: no cussing; no feet on chairs; coats hung properly; and no moving tables and chairs around without your waitresses consent. And Russ would throw you out if you didn't mind them or if you got too rowdy. If he was a bit curmudgeonly, he was also just as charming, holding place at the bar in the most natural way.

Russel's impact on the local neighborhood, providing a space with warmth, whiskey and order, has been huge. His legacy is large. I'm sure that I'm not the only person who had something life altering happen in that space.

While Russ hadn't served at the bar regularly the last few years, he was at the Red Key on Saturday. Sometimes Red Key waitress, Nora took the picture, above, of him then. I thank her for letting me share it with you.

Critical Debate: Cake vs. Pie

2010-03-19T14:36:00.001-04:00

I like to keep things generally apolitical here at Middle West Meals. I may veer off course from time to time, but I like to think of this space as a bipartisan effort. But there is one political debate that I feel most passionate about and would like to discuss with you: Cake vs. Pie.

Jezebel's Cake vs. Pie brackets!

Over at Jezebel, they are usurping the traditional March bracket madness with a new battle, designed to determine, once and for all, which is better, cake or pie. You can even vote - for about the next fifteen minutes, you can get in on round 1: check it.

While some political groups may lobby official legislative professionals (ahem, I'm looking at you Sugar Cream Pie people), I've always been a grassroots kind of girl, so I'd rather chat about it with you. So, what do you think, cake or pie?

Mamey Ice Cream (& Tortas) at Chris's on 86th

2010-03-16T15:32:00.002-04:00

On the recommendation of a trusted food-loving friend, Ben and I devoured some tortas on Sunday from Chris's Ice Cream at 1405 E. 86th St.. The tortas - flat-grilled sandwiches filled with meat (or beans), cheese, creamy sauce, and lettuce - were delicious, served with hot pickled jalapenos and yummy green sauce. Despite these hefty sandwiches and the Mexican Coca-Cola that I drank, I found room for one very special treat - mamey ice cream!

Mamey Ice Cream, originally uploaded by keeeks

Mamey sapote is a fruit with a flavor that somehow combines pumpkin, peaches and cherries - magical! It's native to southern Mexico and grown in parts of Florida, Mexico and throughout Central America. All of that is good to know, but what is most important is that it makes delicious shakes, ice cream and fruit bars and that eating mamey products was the height of my years-ago visit to Mexico. And Chris's does not disappoint. This stuff is good, dense, rich, not too sweet. My "junior" serving, which cost about $2, was as much ice cream as I could probably ever want; these folks are generous.

St. Patrick's Day Prep

2010-03-16T11:01:00.000-04:00

As I may have mentioned before, I'm Irish-Scottish-Swedish-other-stuff-ish. This means that I have an undying love for cabbage, potatoes and oats in almost all forms. And I cook all of those Irish favorites regularly. But, with the big green day approaching, I'm finally going to shake the shamrock (get it? like bite the bullet, but Irish-y) and make some soda bread.

Brown Butter Soda Bread by Rooey202

There are too many recipes out there to even bother posting links - just google search and you'll be up to your eyeballs in recipes. Tonight, I'm going to make two recipes, one half-whole-wheat and without any sugar and another from Ben's side of the family. His cousin Katie (the amazing mama-writer in charge at Heart Gone Walking) posted their Grandmother Shine's recipe at her new blog Nap Time in Naptown. It's got sugar, but not raisins or seeds or any of that stuff that might complicate matters.

What will you be eating on St. Patrick's Day?

Of Montreal rock the BRAT diet - for your upset tummy

2010-03-11T08:47:00.000-05:00

I'm in the age bracket that makes it impossible not to know a pregnant lady at all times. So, right now I know a few. And they're all in that early queasy time. So, in a nod to the power of food both to trouble and to heal us, here is an amazing little ditty, courtesy of the combined powers of Of Montreal (love) and Yo Gabba Gabba (love, too), about the beauty of the BRAT diet.

It's magic, right? Well, Ben found it, so it has to be magic.

veggie starts

2010-03-10T17:12:00.000-05:00

The time for veggie starts has begun. I'll be sharing some of our successes and inevitable failures in the coming months, as we start seeds, plant plants and see what comes up. But in the meantime, some inspiration in the form of an awesome print by Etsy seller joeseppi, below, and a question:

What vegetable do you most enjoy growing (and eating) in your garden?

Buy this print for yourself on Etsy!

Post-It Breakthrough

2010-03-01T18:40:00.000-05:00

I love labels. They make buying in bulk so much more practical, preventing the accidental use of barley in place of quinoa or some other terrible whole-grain disaster (and yes, I know quinoa is not actually a grain...). But using permanent labels in the kitchen doesn't work for me. Too often, I lose interest in an ingredient or just need to clean a container. Then, after scraping and soaking off an adhesive label, I'm left with sticky label goo residue on containers and the arduous task of trying to get Goo Gone to work on a rounded surface.

two of my dozen newly-labeled pantry containers

However, a new day has dawned, thanks to 3M's new Post-It label pads. They are awesome, one of those products whose existence seems so inevitable that it's a wonder that 3M didn't market them years ago. The sticky-all-over labels stick readily to most surfaces, peel off easily and come in several colors, including a jaunty yellow that makes me happy. All my beans and grains and flours are now labeled (see above), following a quick session with the Sharpie and my label pad. The pads can be picked up at most office supply stores, which is where I got mine.

(Wow, that was a brand-heavy post. I promise that no one sent me any products or remuneration for any of those name-drops.)

nostalgic dishware

2010-03-01T12:30:00.000-05:00

I like to surround myself with dishware, mostly vintage. They're my favorite form of inspiration. A German black and white coffee/tea set at Goodwill will make me dream of a chatty snack-time with cool friends or a quick after-dinner coffee before a late night of board games. So, I will buy it. Dusty but pristine Noritaki Hermitage plates with sweet pairs of partridges spark fantasies of fiesty and fun holiday dinners. Of course, they must come home with me. Ben indulges me, because this is how I feather our nest, with porcelain and plans.

I'm pretty sure this trait comes directly from my mom. Though she's much less acquisitive than I, she used some very special dishes, bowls and kitchen equipment throughout my childhood. My grandmother's blue bowl meant warm rolls or hearty mashed potatoes with butter melting on top. The ancient meat grinder is used for povitica, a special holiday treat that my mom, sister and I make annually. Even the non-heirloom quality low Tupperware pan delivered low-rise monkey bread, a hit at every slumber party I ever hosted. And the low pitcher with the cat on front with the crazed finish, that's for gravy at our crowded Thanksgiving table. Though I don't know that I ever liked gravy, I loved cradling the warm pottery between my hands and shepherding the rich brown sauce to the table. I never knew that kitty pitcher had any value beyond those memories, but that's where etsy provides new insights.

Arabia of Finland pitcher, featuring curious bull

offered by MonkiVintage, sold (sadness)

A bigger version of my mom's pitcher, apparently an Arabia of Finland piece, can be found currently on etsy, for 85 smackaroos. But I should have bought this one, a super fun bull version (pictured above), and already crazed and therefore much more affordable. It's sold now, sadly, but I'll keep my eyes out for another one.

To Food Con or not to Food Con?

2010-02-23T10:48:00.001-05:00

There's a nifty looking event coming up on March 5 called Food Con. Pretty sure I'll be there, if only because I love any excuse to talk about food AND see work by Kyle Ragsdale.

Here's what the organizers have to say about it:

On March 5, the Old Northside will be teeming with “foodies,” as they make their way to Food Con, an unconventional convention that features art exhibitions, poetry, films and lectures, hand-on activities, and, of course, food. In a joint project between the Harrison Center for the Arts and the Indiana Humanities Council’s Food for Thought program, Food Con will be a first-of-its-kind showcase and exploration of the art and culture of food in Indianapolis.

FoodCon will be held at the Harrison Center for the Arts from 6-10 p.m., during IDADA’s popular First Friday tour. In the gym, representatives from local farmer's markets, urban gardens, neighborhood supper clubs and more will be on hand to answer questions, share recipes and discuss their passion for food. Artists exhibiting that night include Bruce Campbell, Kyle Ragsdale, Carolyn Springer, Penelope Dullaghan, Ben Valentine, Leah Gauthier, Kristin Hess and more. Attendees can also explore the Harrison Center's 21 artist studios.

More info can be found at the Facebook event page.

Eat your beet greens!

2010-02-22T11:37:00.003-05:00

Are you eating your beet greens? I certainly am, actually right now, in a red Thai curry. They are delicious, and can be prepared like kale or any number of thick green. This lovely picture, shared by feministjulie on flickr, demonstrates that they have intense beauty, too. And see that pretty red vein (which will be yellow for yellow beets), it colors whatever dish you add beet greens to, making things pretty and bright.

Beet Greens, Originally uploaded by feministjulie

Plus, they pack a nutritious punch of calcium, iron, magnesium, phosphorus, and vitamins A, B-complex and C. Dang ya'll, beet greens don't joke.

I pick my beets by the quality of their greens, which is why I was horrified to hear the very sad story of a lady who regularly pulls off her beet greens and disposes of them in the grocery store, throwing away that red-veined goodness. The check out girl told me, and I shuddered.

Target targets me.

2010-02-17T11:37:00.002-05:00

Just as I begin to succeed in my battles against capricious consumption, Target introduces a new low-cost design for the masses collaboration, this time with Liberty of London. They so know me, those schemers at Target. Last year, the Orla Kiely line led to: two smart purchases, a work mug and tablecloth; one silly but good purchase, a "pitcher" that is really more of a vase; and one utterly non-functional purchase, two chintzy things that hang from a drawer to hold kitchen towels - they were cute but quickly fell apart.

Liberty of London for Target mugs: too cute to resist

Now, behold, the Liberty of London line that will doubtless send me to no less than four and possibly as many as six local Targets in search of the must-have items. Holy cow, I must have one of those mugs to add to my work mug crew and the trays and bowls and - here we go again. See the whole collection in flash (including that beguiling watering can) at the Target site. It launches mid-March.

Silly addendum: You can also link from there to a facebook "Patternality" quiz to find your pattern. Me? I'm Therberton, "Smart, cultured, well-rounded, wary of splashy cars and circuses, a sophisticate all the way." At least that's my winter self. I re-took it as if it were summer, and the results were a bit different: Sixty, "You are a free spirit. You love experiences, you appreciate life outdoors and you're rarely daunted." Go figure.

Mardi Gras: Get your beignets today at City Market!

2010-02-16T09:59:00.000-05:00

Who doesn't love fried dough and powdered sugar? Who doesn't love the idea of celebrating holidays with food? Well, if you answered, "Fools, just fools," to either or both of the above questions, then you might be interested in a special happening today at the City Market...

Circle City Sweets will be frying up beignets from 8:30 am to 1:30 pm at the City Market's demo kitchen. Here's a perhaps-not-amazing-but-still-tantalizing picture of their beignets, to tempt you just that little bit more.

picture courtesy of Circle City Sweets, from last year's ArtSparkle event

Hope to see you there!

Sunday morning croissants are the best

2010-02-14T14:48:00.000-05:00

Happy Valentine's Day to you. At our house, we keep it low-key. Gifts were exchanged last night. I received two long-loved albums on vinyl (this and this), while Ben got a pair of handmade, by me and by others, gifts and some personalized pencils. Good stuff.

my tea, Ben's coffee and our croissants, divided in two

But this morning was all about the romance of croissants, made by Rene's Bakery and sold by the Monon Coffee Company. I love the Monon - they have the my favorite tea selection of any coffee shop in town and they treat it with care; they neither steep tea in overly hot water (bitter is bad) nor rudely charge you by the hot-water amount you purchase - (all sizes=same price). Plus, their baristas are charming. In addition to having Bagel Fair bagels and a selection of gluten-free snacks, they have Rene's goods. And I love those goods, most especially the croissants and the pumpkin bread. To celebrate all that is good in life, including love and that gooey stuff, Ben and I shared a plain and an oh-my-freaking-goodness-so-good almond croissant, each divided perfectly in half.

I hope your celebrations are just as sweet and buttery.

A Taste of Philly is a taste of awesome.

2010-02-13T16:25:00.001-05:00

Have you ever had a very promising food store or restaurant open near your home? Have you ever then forgotten to actually enter said store/restaurant for way too long? Friends, we all make this mistake, and I am willing to come clean: I made a serious error in allowing that dreaded duo of laziness and busy-ness prevent me from going to A Taste of Philly for several months, despite many trusted friends recommending them. And I made a huge mistake, because these are truly delicious pretzels - warm, chewy, golden, perfect pretzels.

I tell you this story for two reasons: (1) as a cautionary tale and (2) to implore you to go to A Taste of Philly, like right now!

Here's why you must go to A Taste of Philly:

They serve chewy, delicious, appropriately-salted and very affordable pretzels, in several shapes, including a traditional, multi-pretzel loop and little pretzel nuggets. And, as we all know, mini food just tastes better, right?
They hand-twist these carbohydrate loops - huzzah for hand-crafted foods.

A Taste of Philly plays well with others, supplying Upland's tasting room with pretzels most days of the week.
The warm jalapeno cheese dip has real bits of jalapeno in it; and it is delicious. (And I don't normally even dip my pretzels in cheese, being more of a mustard girl (see below)).

You can sample their four mustard varieties for free.
They are conveniently located across the street from the 42nd and College library - reminding us that reading and pretzels are natural companions.
The owner seems like a cool guy.

If you're reading this today, you can run over there really fast (they close at 6 pm and are open Monday-Saturday - no Sunday hours) and pick up a gigantic pretzel heart for your loved one(s). The owner said that shamrocks might happen in the future. You had me at shamrock, A Taste of Philly, you had me at shamrock.

hiatus broken with amazing soup

2010-01-12T17:23:00.007-05:00

Hello there.

With another soup swap coming up and questions from a slew of friends, I'm recommitting to blogging. My new work at Peace Learning Center has kept me happily busy, but the itch to write about good food has returned. So, here goes...

I can think of no better way to return to this blog than by sharing the most surprising dish that I had last year, a glorious clear soup shared by my friend Andrea. She's German, so maybe her European origin is what makes this soup so elegantly delicious, with its warming spices and touch of sherry. But maybe the secret is that amazing spiral of parmesan pancake you see floating in the soup, pictured below. Whatever it is, it is so very, very good that I urge you to immediately make it and devour it.

Andrea's Amazing Soup

Here's the recipe, just as Andrea shared it with me. Again, please make this. There will be no regrets!

Recipe: Andrea's Amazing Clear Tomato Soup with Parmesan Pancake

Ingredients for the soup
1 onion
1 tsp whole black peppercorns
2 allspice corns
2 sprigs of thyme
4 egg whites
3 cans of whole tomatoes (800g)
1 bay leaf
800ml vegetable broth
1/2 tsp salt
1 pinch of sugar
2 cl dry sherry
grape tomatoes

Ingredients for the pancakes
3 egg yolks
50g flour
50g ground parmesan
50ml milk
salt
a bit of oil for the pan

Prepare the soup - Cut unpeeled onion in half. Peel and dice one half of it, leave the other half intact. Crush the peppercorns and allspice corns. Wash the thyme, leaving it on the sprigs. Beat the egg whites half stiff. Roast the onion half with the cut surface down in a large pot (no oil). Add all the ingredients except the sherry and grape tomatoes. Bring to a boil, stirring occasionally. Let simmer on low heat for 1 hour. Line a fine colander with gauze and strain the soup slowly into a large bowl or pot. Don't push or stir in the colander; it will make the soup cloudy. When ready to serve, heat soup, add salt, pepper and sherry to taste. Add sherry after the soup is hot so it doesn't evaporate.

Prepare the pancakes - Mix all the ingredients. Fry THIN pancakes in a little bit of oil. Roll the pancakes tightly (works best when still hot).

Serve it up - When ready to serve, cut pancakes into thin slices. Add pancake slices and grape tomato halves to bowls before pouring the soup. Note - There is a lot of waste, so once you served it clear, press everything that is left in the colander through the gauze. Tastes the same, it just doesn't look as fancy.

more August goodness

2009-08-11T11:45:00.004-04:00

In addition to the always beloved tomato + anything good = deliciousness and fish fry (good anytime of year, I'd say) suggestions, a few people have kindly pointed out additional food-related things that make August worth enjoying.

"tomatoes squaredcircle"
photograph by Liz West, some rights reserved

So, in no particular order, my friends/readers/husband suggest that you also check out the following events:

African Unity Festival, featuring Taste of Africa - August 14 & 15 - Sounds like a great event, with lots of elements, including food!
Saint Thomas Aquinas Sausage Fest - August 21 & 22 - "Beer, Brauts, Music & More" - They had me at the alliteration. Not sure that Thomas Aquinas had booze, sausage and tunes in mind when he was working on his trinity arguments...
Harvest at Home - August 29 - Second Helpings' fundraiser, featuring a smattering of local food delights and drinks, too. Stuff your face to fight hunger. (The husband was displeased that I neglected to mention this in my first August-love post. Maybe I'm trying to keep nepotism at a minimum?)

If you've got another suggestion, please share!

even cuter vegetable bags

2009-08-06T08:48:00.001-04:00

Okay, I've mentioned vegetable bags before as part of my greater less-guilt-ridden kitchen efforts. But I still haven't purchased them. Instead, I make grocery clerks and baggers throughout Indianapolis persnickety by suggesting that they should deal with slightly damp vegetables. Because the average grocery staffer will overzealously use three or four paper towels per drop of water on their check-out surface, I'm actually hurting the planet with this practice.

Today, I believe that I found the answer to this planet-killing situation. Dear reader, behold, the cutest vegetable bags seen to date, found via Twig & Thistle.

Vegetable Bags from Wonderthunder $20 for four bags - pretty awesome.

These pretty bags also come in blue and red, but it looks like you'll have to pre-order them, as Etsy seller Wonderthunder.

Oh, August, I love you!

2009-08-05T12:32:00.002-04:00

Despite a temperament and complexion better suited for rainy Spring and blustery Autumn, August is my absolute favorite month to live in Indiana. It's taken many years for me to come around to this conclusion, and several factors have influenced me. Meeting Ben mid-summer in 2002 was a factor, as was the increasing strength of over-the-counter sunscreen. But...

Being a food-obsessed woman, I must credit August's outsize contribution to eating in central Indiana as a pivotal element of my August love. Local produce is amazing in August. The State Fair happens in August. And August also hosts many local food events and cultural festivals. To be honest, Ben's quick salsas that first August had me completely smitten. I mean, he's great on his own, of course, but when you add in perfectly ripe tomatoes, garlic and cilantro, well, he's irresistible.

the potato spiral that 8 members of my family devoured in
less than 45 seconds at last year's State Fair - no shame

In an effort to spread the August love around, here are some food highlights for the coming month:

August 7 - 23 - The Indiana State Fair will offer up fried cheese, fried pizza, fried potato curls, and some other not-fried stuff like lemon shake-ups and lots of meat, in addition to tons of displays from Indiana's food producers. My favorite spot - the 4H contest winners.
August 10 - 23 - Devour Downtown provides access to a wide range (some awesome, some...) restaurants with special multi-course meals for $30 per person - and sometimes $30 for a couple.
August 22 - Hoosier Beer Geek's 3rd Anniversary Roundtable - you must get $30 tickets in advance to enjoy a wide variety of beers and food. Designated Driver tickets available, too.
Throughout the month - tons of events happening with the Slow Food Indy folks!

I know that I'm missing tons of good times - what would you recommend? I must know immediately!

finer things - simple dessert and guest-contributed wine

2009-07-28T18:52:00.000-04:00

Last night, Ben and I had our friend Andy over for dinner, to brainstorm for an event Andy is planning. In between talk of DJs, marketing, twitter and - yes - pirates, we had a really nice meal. I made sauteed tomatoes with garlic, green onions and tarragon, as well as harissa-spiced green beans and zucchini. Ben modified his regular polenta recipe, adding fresh corn and skipping the handfuls of cheese; Parmesan and harissa just didn't sound like a great match. The dishes balanced creamy, spicy and sweet, and took advantage of the super-fresh vegetables available at the height of summer.

the simple supper

All of that was good, but the highlights of the evening for me were the wine that Andy brought, a Barone Di Valforte Montepulciano d'Abruzzo 2007 from Goose the Market's wine club and the plum clafoutis that cooled in the kitchen while we ate dinner.

the awesome finale

The clafoutis is one of life's great dessert dishes, too seldom used. The process is simple - (1) gather some fruit, (2) slice it if it's large and arrange it in a pie plate, (3) pour a crepe-like batter, rich in eggs and laced with sugar's extra sweetness over the fruit, (4) bake, and (5) let it rest briefly before sprinkling with powdered sugar. The almost-custard that develops is heavenly and a lovely foil for a starch-heavy main course, like polenta or pasta. A clafoutis is also a great way to use stone fruits (cherries, apricots, plums, etc.) that are just coming into their peak right now. Enjoy them after dinner, just barely cooled, and save a few pieces for a morning or mid-day snack the next day. I guess it's clear what I had for breakfast today...

The recipe I used is from Orangette - one of my favorite simple dessert sources. My only modification was to use reduced-fat milk, because that's what was around, and to use slightly less sugar (1/3 cup minus a Tablespoon), because my plums were sweeter than usual.

Review: Naisa Pan-Asian Cafe

2009-07-27T14:11:00.010-04:00

The newest addition to the many mid-range restaurants popping up in Fountain Square - or at least the newest to me - is Naisa Pan-Asian Cafe. My family gathered there to celebrate a birthday recently, and Naisa served us well, accommodating meat-eaters and -abstainers alike.

Details
Address - 1025 Virginia Avenue, Indianapolis Phone - 317-602-3708
Hours - Monday to Thursday - 11am - 3pm & 4pm - 9:30pm
Friday to Saturday - 11 am - 3pm & 4pm -10pm
Dinner entree cost - $8 - $13

Food
To begin our meal, our server brought out little bowls of fried crispy wonton skins, paired with house-made duck and mustard sauces. Both sauces are a great deal more special than packet-bound and jar-sourced accompaniments that most restaurants serve. The mustard is zingy without being bitter, while the duck sauce was far less sacchrine and more fruity than any other duck sauce I've had. From the variety of appetizers - veggie spring rolls, shrimp tempura, seafood cheese wontons and steamed vegetable dumplings - the dumplings were the clear stand-out, with shredded vegetables encased with a spinach wrapper.

Though we could have made a meal with the ample "small plate" appetizers, we excitedly ordered a variety of entrees from Naisa's menu, which is composed primarily of Chinese dishes. At the non-meat end of the table, we ordered three dishes to share - the garlicky triple greens, ma po to fu and stir fried rice noodles. I'm not certain that I would have enjoyed any of them quite so much in isolation as I did side-by-side. They were each delicious, but felt like a whole meal when they filled a plate together. One other diner had the chicken rice noodles and, while the flavor was good, he found them a bit oily. The triple greens are particularly good, and the greens vary depending on what ingredients are freshest. Naisa distinguishes itself from many other mid-price restaurants with a focus on freshness and flavor; cilantro and basil leaves, as well as hints of acidity and a measured approach to frying, make their dishes bright and surprising.

Naisa offers tea service, presented in an iron pot at the table, which I recommend. We were all much too full for any dessert.

Atmosphere
Naisa's simple surroundings, carefully selected and calming, allow the food to be the center of diners' experience. For the most part, the interior and mood of Naisa is that of a focused cafe - plenty of space for quiet chatter and no overly ornate or gaudy surroundings to distract diners from enjoying the two most important things at any meal - the food and the company. One little caveat - the table we sat at, which was actually two tables pulled together, felt a bit too large for a six-person party. I waved to my mom, seated at the far end of the table, but didn't get to talk much.

Service
The service was fine, but not extraordinary. Reading others' accounts of their trips to Naisa, I'm a bit sad that our server seemed disinterested in both our experience and the full menu, because others seem to have had wonderful, attentive service. Nothing was terribly wrong, our experience just wasn't warm and welcoming. I'm not sure how to capture my issue with it - a lack of eye contact, a coolness toward certain people in the party, a general spaciness, but one thing unequivocally bothered me... Maybe this is a special peeve of mine, but I hate being in a large party and having the server affirm one person's order, but not the rest. And, in the course of the evening, our server reminded me of this special irritation, telling my stepdad that he ordered the "best thing on the menu" while not even giving an approving nod after others' orders.

Overall
Mostly-apathetic hipster server aside, I will definitely be eating at Naisa again. Even if the rest of the food had not been delicious and fresh - which is was - those veggie dumplings are an undeniable draw. The food has soul and freshness, both of which matter mightily to me.

tv obsession - Diary of a Foodie

2009-07-20T09:25:00.004-04:00

Every once in a while, from the muck that normally constitutes food-focused television, something truly good emerges and then I become obsessed. Thanks to a suggestion from two very trustworthy people recently, my new obsession is Diary of a Foodie, a show co-produced by Gourmet magazine and public television. And it's not just my sister and Mark that like it, the show is a James Beard award winner.

But more than that, it is good television. Diary of a Foodie fills the screen with lively shots of food and cooking. The featured food consistently inspires, with its new-to-me combinations of flavors and intriguing background stories. The producers share about incredibly diverse cuisine, but they do it on a human scale by allowing chefs, eaters and growers to describe the food. This approach makes the show feel like a great conversation with people who are thoroughly entranced by food, but who aren't snobbish or close-minded about sharing that excitement.

Gourmet's Diary of a Foodie airs locally on WFYI-3. My DVR is set to record every episode, so I can watch it again and again. I'd recommend that you do the same.

BlogINDIANA coming up!

2009-07-14T07:15:00.000-04:00

I've been invited to join the Foodie Panel at the upcoming Blog Indiana 2009 conference, happening August 13th & 14th. Last year's event was great - I got to meet a slew of local bloggers, some who I knew about and some who I should have known about and learned much. This year, the organizers have developed a nonprofit summit on Friday of the conference, something near and dear to my nonprofit heart!

In other words, if you're a local blogger, nonprofit professional, social media producer or marketer of anything, I would definitely recommend that register for the conference.

Oh, and this is some great fire under my patootie - watch out for my official Return to Hardcore Blogging in the following weeks.

eat it now: Indiana strawberries

2009-06-08T15:05:00.001-04:00

Have you had an Indiana strawberry yet, one from a little box picked up at a farmers' market or - even better - one you picked yourself? I'm really hoping that your answer is yes. And if it is not, well, behold, my five reasons that you really, really should rush out and get some of these little red berry jewels for your eating pleasure.

A Box of Strawberries - Courtesy of posted notes on flickr
And they're from Waterman's!

1. Those strawberries at the supermarket aren't real strawberries. Yes, the packaging states that they are strawberries and I'm sure that they're somehow distantly related to the ones that taste good, but they just don't taste like strawberry. Fresh & local strawberries do taste like strawberry.

2. These fresh, local strawberries also taste like summer. As of today, the muggy warmth that typifies an Indiana summer has arrived. The pay-off for that thick air is that we also have some delicious produce and start-of-summer strawberries hint at the bounty to come.

3. Indiana strawberries will stain your lips and fingertips. That's just fun stuff, people.

4. Fresh, local, not-engineered-for-produce-case-stability strawberries are urgent. You must eat them now, before the turn the corner toward the land of too-ripe. They beseech you to eat them.

5. You can't go wrong with a strawberry dish. They're all yummy. Strawberry shortcake. Strawberry milkshake. Strawberry-rhubarb anything. Strawberry sundae. Strawberries in your salad. Strawberry dipped in chocolate. Strawberry, all on its lonesome.

summer excitement question

2009-06-01T08:34:00.006-04:00

I'm heading up to Michigan for a work training for the next few days, but have a question for you all while I'm away...

What food-related or Indianapolis/Indiana-based event, item or experience are you most looking forward to this summer?

a little hint about why I'm excited for summer

insanely simple: fresh pasta and zucchini

2009-05-27T11:23:00.005-04:00

Beyond the super-delicious croissant kick-off to our vacation, I also picked up some super-fresh pappardelle from the Nicole-Taylor's stand at the Farmer's Market on Saturday. It was the perfect ingredient for a simple, easy summer lunch - fresh pasta with zucchini.

the basic ingredients

Nicole-Taylor's Pasta & Market will open at 1134 East 54th in Indianapolis in the near future, headed by local favorite Tony Hanslits, previously of Something Different and currently of the Chef's Academy and Infusion Restaurant & Cocktails. Nicole-Taylor's will offer a range of plain and flavored pastas, which should each be marvelous - the pappardelle was delicious.

I am thrilled that Nicole-Taylor's is moving close to my home. Being too cheap to buy a pasta-maker and too lazy to roll and cut my own, proximity to this shop will surely be key to regular fresh pasta consumption at our home. (Jolene Ketzenberger from the Star also has an article about Hanslits' pasta today - lovely coincidence, huh?)

the finished dish

This weekend's consumption involved a super-simple combination of lightly sauteed zucchini rounds, fresh pasta, salt, pepper, a little bit of heat from our treasured Vulcan's Fire Salt and a splash of half and half. I adore zucchini that is just-barely cooked, with just a touch of browning.

To make one serving of this dish:

Slice up a half a zucchini into thin half-rounds and saute it in a pan over medium-high heat, with a light coating of olive oil.
Meanwhile, add one serving of pasta to rapidly boiling water and cook for 2-3 minutes, until al dente.
Season the zucchini generously with salt and pepper.
Take the pan off the heat, add a splash of half and half, mix the pasta into the zucchini and pile it into a bowl.

the best start for a mini-vacation

2009-05-27T09:05:00.003-04:00

Ben and I took a mini-vacation this past weekend, a stay-at-home sort of break. Vacations are all about tone for me. Even if I'm staying in town and probably working on the house or garden a bit, I want to feel like there's a bit of luxury involved.

To set the tone of our ultra-long weekend, I ran to the Broad Ripple Farmer's Market on Saturday. In addition to some veggies, a jar of green tomato marmelade and some fresh pasta (more on that, later), I dropped by Rene's tent and got two croissants - one plain, one almond.

the glorious almond croissant from Rene's

Have you had the almond croissant from Rene's? If not, I implore you, please, to get up immediately from whatever it is you are doing and scour the city for one of these amazing, buttery, nut-filled and -topped treats. Please. (I've seen these goodies at the Rene's actual bakery, the Monon Coffee Company and the Best Chocolate in Town.)

Spice Explosion for Second Helpings

2009-05-21T08:25:00.006-04:00

Today is the day. Renee, the Second Helpings crew, a whole bunch of Indianapolis food devotees and I will gather at Second Helpings after work to celebrate and connect at our Spicy Meet & Greet. And it's not too late to RSVP...

What are we celebrating? The fact that people are stepping up to the tune of more than $350 to add a little bit of flavor to Second Helpings' work! See who's donated over at Feed Me Drink Me, where Renee has posted the most up-to-date donation roster.

I'm also thrilled that we'll get to share Second Helpings' work with our community. Here's why I think everyone should know about their work:

Because of the 2,900+ kids, adults & seniors who dine on Second Helpings daily.

Because of the 500+ regular volunteers (and staff, too) who prepare all
those meals from food that would otherwise go to a landfill.

Because of the amazing culinary students who utilize the Second Helpings
training program to transform their lives.

You can add your own spice to Second Helpings' pantry - just check out the list below of unclaimed spices and make a contribution by emailing Ben Shine at ben (at) secondhelpings (dot) com.
Spice donation or no spice donation, we'd love to see you tonight!

$35 Donation: Mint
$25 Donation: Cumin (need 2)
$20 Donation: Garlic tub, Thyme leaves (need 4), Ground Chili (need 5)
$14 Donation: Cajun Seasoning
$10 Donation: Marjoram or Dill
$8 Donation: Coriander, Savory, Cinnamon, Chives or Fennel

plans for the near future

2009-05-20T08:18:00.004-04:00

Sometime very, very soon, I would like to buy some of this:

photo by frangit, licensed under creative commons

So that I might make at least one of these:

Rhubarb and Raspberry Yogurt Pops at La Tartine Gourmande
Rhubarb Bars (maybe with Tecate), previously recorded here
Rhubarb Nectar from Canadian Living (look at this pretty picture)
Orange and rhubarb crepes at vegalicious
Lentil and rhubarb curry found originally in Peter Berley's The Flexitarian Table

What will you buy and cook this week?

Nikki's artichokes

2009-05-14T15:29:00.006-04:00

Sometimes, daily life challenges me just enough that I have to take a blog pause. Then, it gets hard to come back - last time, it took me over a month.

But I came back because my friend Nikki posted a pretty picture. I needed to share. I waited a couple of weeks, because I wanted to make sure you guys were still around.

thank you, Nikki!

Friends are good for reminding me how amazing food is and how much it deserves my attention.

Spicy Meet & Greet - Update!

2009-05-14T12:12:00.004-04:00

The spice-raiser leading up to the Feed Me/Drink Me & Middle West Meals meet-up at Second Helpings is off to a great start!

As of today, here's the current donation tally:

Cheryl: 1 Black Pepper
Steve and Twyla: 1 Rosemary, 1 Rubbed Sage
Maggie: 1 Tarragon
Andy: 1 Garlic or Chili
Nikki: 1 Black Pepper
Andrea/Circle City Socialites: 1 Crushed Red Pepper (of course the roller derby gals pick "Crushed" Red Pepper!)
Vicki: working with vendors
Kirsten: 2 Cumin
Renee: 1 Lavender, 1 Clove and 1 nutmeg
Shawn: $10
Chuck: $20

There are still plenty of spices to choose from, but we're off to a great start for helping out Second Helpings!

(Lovely picture is "Spice Market In Provence" by flowerwine on flickr.)

pantry upgrade: real grenadine

2009-05-12T08:46:00.005-04:00

When I was little, I had a massive love for Max & Erma's, a love that clearly didn't survive my transition to adulthood, based on the visit I made to one location a few years back while in a sentimental mood. (You can't go home again and Thomas Wolfe and all of that? I guess it's true for chain food.) Why did I love Max & Erma's? Two things - Shirley Temples and Fried Mozzarella.

And, true to form, I still love any drink, adult or otherwise, with a dash of sweet redness. Still, the overly sweet corn-syrup and dye concoction that many people would have you believe is grenadine is in fact a cheap, not very tasty impostor. The original recipe for grenadine involved sugar, yes, but also lots of pomegranate seed juice. Ever since reading about real grenadine on Chow a while back, I've been thinking about making my own or trying out the Stirrings version.

Life is busy right now, and pomegranate juice is expensive, so I bought a bottle of the Stirrings version from Fresh Market before Mother's Day, to make a fun little brunch cocktail for my wonderful mom. The Stirrings version was good, though perhaps a bit less pomegranate-y than I had hoped for. Still, it's a huge upgrade from Rose's red corn syrup, and I heartily recommend it to you as a pantry upgrade!

Previous pantry upgrades:
Tamari (ditch your Kikkoman)
Buckwheat Soba Noodles (make some room on your pasta shelf)
Tomato Paste in a Tube (double-strength and fridge-friendly)

Spicy Meet & Greet

2009-05-11T14:13:00.001-04:00

Regular readers know of my ardent affection (pre- and post-dating Ben's employment there) for Second Helpings. This month, I'll be bumping that up a notch with a very special co-blog effort...

The much-esteemed Renee from Feed Me/Drink Me and I will join forces with Second Helpings on May 21 to help out their food rescue and culinary training program by hosting a food community get-together.

Here's the deal: Second Helpings need spices! In order for their culinary students to learn, they need a pantry full of herbs and spices. Renee and I think that you - our readers - are the perfect people to add some extra flavor to their culinary education. So, we've created a little spice/herb drive and we're asking you to contribute!

"home to the spice pharaoh's" by drspam

Which herb or spice will you add to the Second Helpings pantry?
$35 Donation: Black Pepper (need 2), Mint
$25 Donation: Cumin (need 4) (Kirsten – 2), Oregano, Crushed Red Peppers
$20 Donation: Garlic tubs (need 2), Thyme leaves (need 4), Ground Chili (need 6), Tarragon
$14 Donation: Cloves (Renee), Rosemary, Cajun Seasoning, Nutmeg (Renee)
$10 Donation: Marjoram, Basil, Parsley or Dill
$8 Donation: Rubbed Sage, Coriander, Savory, Cinnamon, Chives, Fennel or Lavender (Renee)

Want to ante up and sponsor a spice? Contact Ben Shine at ben at secondhelpings.org or 317-632-2664, ext. 29, and reserve your spice of choice. Then join us on May 21, to check out Second Helpings in action, celebrate our effort, and hang out with some fellow bloggers, food writers, chefs, and food lovers in person!

We'll chow down on snacks, prepared by Class 54 of the Second Helpings Culinary Job Training program, as well as the Best Chocolate in Town and Cabot Creamery, sip some wine, and get a chance to take a look around.

What spice to choose? I'm donating two tubs of Cumin - my second favorite spice (cardamom wasn't on the list). Renee chose Cloves, Nutmeg and Lavender - a lovely combination of her favorites.

Here are the details!
5:15-6:30 p.m.
Thursday, May 21
Second Helpings
Eugene and Marilyn Glick Center
1121 Southeastern Ave
RSVP: Me, Renee, Facebook or Ben Shine

Abita Root Beer at Goose

2009-05-08T09:05:00.005-04:00

Picking up a post-work-workshop sandwich* at Goose yesterday, I spied a funny little bottle with an Abita label on the bottom shelf of their drinks-grains-cheeses fridge. Abita is well-known for their Louisiana-brewed beer, but I had no idea that they made a root beer.

The label boasted that the Abita root beer was made with real cane sugar. That's about all I need to sample a new soda, and I'm usually pleased with the milder sweetness, but I am rarely blown away. Abita's root beer was so, so good, made with spring water, herbs, vanilla and -surprise- yucca for foam that, indeed, it blew me away. With its balance of herby-rooty flavor and mellow sweetness, Abita root beer may be my official summer obsession of 2009. (See evidence of my Vietnamese bun obsession of 2008 here.)

*How wonderful is it that the Goose staff will whip up a salmon pastrami sandwich, when it is completely not on their menu, and do it so very well? Wonderful, friends, extremely wonderful.

Mother's Day = Brunch Day

2009-05-06T09:22:00.006-04:00

Why is Mother's Day all about brunch? Who mandated that for moms, brunch was the ideal meal? The holiday itself was created way back in 1912 by Anna Jarvis, with the intent to celebrate the value and impact of mothers. More history is readily available, but I haven't yet discovered who mandated this brunch-focused policy for feeding honored mothers.

brunch - from morenewmath.com

Who am I to fight tradition? In honor of both brunch and Mother's Day, I've assembled a list just for you of exciting menus and treats for you and your mom. Please enjoy!

Great ideas from all around the web:

Oh, Crap! It's Mother's Day! menu at Chow
Easter Brunch Recipes from 101 Cookbooks
Make Ahead Brunch at Whipped

Brunch ideas previously seen on Middle West Meals:

Ginger-Hibiscus Iced Tea
Ebelskivers, of course
Teensy pancake short stacks
Easy sandwiches (great for brunch picnics!)
Rhubarb Bars
Gift for mom: Spicy Pepita Ginger Bark (for my mom, it couldn't be spicy)

Taste at Dinner

2009-05-05T22:18:00.004-04:00

Several weeks have passed since I dined at Taste for their relatively new dinner service, several weeks since I had two lovely Wednesday-night meals. In addition to lazy blogging and a busy life, I think the primary source of my delay in writing about my Taste experiences is my struggle with the After-Taste moniker. "Aftertaste" just isn't a word I normally use with glee or memories of yummy meals. And the meals I've had at Taste are certainly in the good-to-delicious category. So in my nitpicky word-obsessed style, I'll be referring to their evening offerings as "dinner at Taste" and referring to them with happiness.

drinks @ Taste

I've eaten at Taste twice now for dinner, once with a group of ladies and once with Ben. Taste takes on a different mood in the evening, with the new-ish interior and its deep tones creating a cozy atmosphere. The low lighting builds on this cozy and stylish mood. The decor and the service worked remarkedly well for my occasionally boisterous group of friends, situated in one of the six-seater round booths. But it also worked well for my dinner date with Ben, which felt intimate, special and just-informal-enough.

Taste does things a little bit differently than other dinner locations, encouraging visitors to order from snacks, salads, tartines, mains and sides all at once. Each dish is delivered to the table as it is made - a challenge for me, because I do always want to wait for everyone to have food. The salads and tartines should be familiar to Taste's lunch regulars; they're not exact matches, but most tend to follow similar flavor combinations as the lunch menu offereings - fresh and bright combinations of produce, seasonings and, often, dairy (beet with citrus, tomato and corn with blue cheese), with a couple of departures from European flavors which rely on soy, daikon or seaweed. Like the salads, the tartines reflect a strong European heritage and a connection to Taste's lunch menu.

The main dishes, the sides and many of the snacks are the real surprise and treasure at Taste's dinner service. Taste's guacamole upgrade, an avocado puree served with house-made plantain chips, and the feta-spinach sauce are both fun, little snacks, but there are so many more that sound well-worth ordering. Some examples of next-time snacks: warm olive bowl with cumin, deviled eggs smoked trout, and truffled eggs.

Taste doesn't offer vegetarian mains, though there is plenty to make a meal out of between the other menu items, but there is a nice balance of seafood, fowl and meats. The sauces are truly the main-dish stars, special and yummy. Ben raved about his pork loin, while my favorite main - so far - is the salmon in pommery-mustard sauce. Mains come unaccompanied; order one of the ample sides to bulk up the meal. The creamy polenta was almost as good as Ben's homemade version, my favorite polenta in the world.

The wine list is moderately sized and moderately priced. Taste also offers select wines in quartinos, little carafes of wine that make it easier to pair a few wines with your dinner. Our server hadn't tried much of the wine; that would be a nice addition to their preparation. Taste serves cucumber-water in recycled Trader's Point dairy bottles, a sweet and refreshing constant in the meal.

Desserts are, as always, well prepared and balanced. Taste's desserts may be decadently rich and served up in share-worthy sizes, but they are not overly sweet. In other words, do try to save some room, the tarts, cobblers and nutella panini are all worth it.

Dinner is only available on Wednesdays and Thursdays from 6 to 9 pm - a perfect reason to celebrate life and food on a weekday! Taste's dinner service isn't cheap, but it isn't overpriced, either. Check out the dinner menu online to get a sense of prices.

Learning to Love Your Utensils

2009-04-01T16:06:00.006-04:00

Kitchen utensils don't get the love they deserve. What do they get for all the assistance they provide to us in the kitchen? They're tossed around, crammed into over-stuffed "stuff" drawers and generally neglected.

All of this is true, but out in the world, there is one special Etsy artist championing kitchen utensils - Dazeychic. Check out her visual ode to spoons, forks, spatulas and the egg beater below.

You can buy the prints in singles, too, if you want to play favorites with your utensils. I'd choose the one featuring endangered egg beaters (and whisks), below, but they're all super-cute. Just check out her shop.

pantry upgrade: buckwheat soba noodles

2009-03-31T13:32:00.007-04:00

Beyond my well-documented adoration of pomegranate molasses (see berries & brie, pomegranate yogurt & a rave about the ingredient here), walnuts (see spinach-walnut pasta & Lobio) and cheddar (see this risotto, Irish-American fondue, these tamalitos, creamy potato-corn chowder & this shepherd's pie), there are many other ingredients in the world that need love. Enter the latest ingredient to be featured as a Middle West Meals official pantry upgrade: buckwheat soba noodles.
Soba takes about 5 minutes to cook up, can be used in a bazillion ways and is yummy. The buckwheat adds a little bit of bonus nutrition in the form of rutin, a nice little glycoside that fights free radicals and has antioxidant properties.

Last night, wanting to use up some little bits of produce and a half-block of tofu, soba handily came to the rescue, for a yummy vegetable-tofu soba bowl. I pulled together a quick teriyaki sauce (kind of like this) for slices of the tofu and thin sweet potato moons, which combined nicely over a medium heat. Meanwhile, I cooked and drained the soba, which I tossed with a few handfuls of baby spinach, a big clove of garlic, minced, and a drizzle of tamari in a medium-hot pan. Finally, I heated up a little bit of garlicky stock and prepared a quick salad of pea shoots, hot sesame oil and lemon juice. Into big bowls, I piled the spinachy noodles, tofu-sweet potato mixture and pea shoots, finishing each bowl off with a ladle or two of the stock. And, heavens to Betsy, it was delicious!

In Indianapolis, you can always get buckwheat soba noodles at the Good Earth and Saraga.

Other recipes to check out:

Buckwheat Pasta with Kale at the New York Times
Garlic Soba Noodles at 101 Cookbooks
Nigella's Cold Soba Noodle Salad

sign of summer: pop-ups

2009-03-25T09:48:00.004-04:00

Since I wasn't a chocolate-adoring child, the ring-a-ding of a neighborhood ice cream man (person?) meant push-ups for me. Aside from the occasional drumstick, it was all push-ups all the time for me. When the weather warms up past 60 degrees and the sun shines, like yesterday afternoon, I can almost taste the cold, creamy, orange-esque goodness that only push-ups can offer.

Which is why I am ga-ga over this adorable drawstring bag, on sale for $9 at the Curiosity Shoppe. Not only is it fair-trade, it's also produced by the awesome people at Yee Haw Industries, the very same people who made Ben's Evel Knievel print and his workhorse print, two of my favorite gifts I've ever given.

Happy St. Patrick's Day!

2009-03-17T08:03:00.002-04:00

Have a great St. Patrick's Day. If you aren't dining out on corned beef and cabbage, then you might enjoy these recipes:

Enjoy the holiday and please do not drink green beer. That only makes leprechauns cry.

rustic winter tomato soup with fried egg

2009-03-16T19:44:00.004-04:00

How to Cook Everything Vegetarian (thanks to my sister Jen & Mark Bittman!) helped me rediscover my love of eggs. By relegating eggs to breakfast and brunch, Americans often miss out on what can be a satisfying and protein-rich addition to salads and entrees. But the greatest tragedy born of this egg discrimination is our national failure to regularly add poached and fried eggs to simple soups. So, without further ado, I offer you a little dish that I hope will bring a dinner or lunch time egg into your life - rustic winter tomato soup with fried egg.

This soup recipe is a combination of two tomato soup recipes from How to Cook..., one built for fresh tomatoes and the other wintertime variation designed for canned tomatoes.

The flavor in this dish does rely a bit on special ingredients:

I highly recommend using local and super-fresh eggs. Stop by the Good Earth, the Winter Farmer's market or Locally Grown Gardens to pick some up. If this isn't your normal egg-purchasing pattern, you might be surprised at the sometimes-florescent orange color of these local gems.
San Marzano tomatoes are the best canned tomato, in my opinion, and they work very well for this recipe.

One other note, before you head into this recipe - please, please, please give runny yolks the chance they deserve. For years, the delicious yellow goodness that flows from a properly fried or poached egg frightened me. City Cafe's eggs Benedict - with tomato in place of the ham - changed all that for me. I haven't looked back since.

Recipe: Rustic Tomato Soup with Fried Egg
serves 4-6

Ingredients
1 28-ounce can whole tomatoes
2-3 Tablespoons olive oil
1 medium carrot, diced
1 small onion or 1/2 of a medium onion, thinly sliced
2 cloves of garlic, minced
2 Tablespoons of tomato paste
leaves from 2-3 sprigs of fresh thyme
3-4 cups of vegetable stock
salt and black pepper

1 Tablespoon olive oil, plus more as needed
4-6 eggs, one per person

Prepare the soup - Heat the oven to 375 degrees. Drain the can of tomatoes, reserving their juice. Cut each tomato in half, lengthwise, and place cut side up in a roasting pan. Roast for 25-35 minutes, adding a bit of water, reserved tomato juice or stock if the pan dries out.

Meanwhile, heat the olive oil in a large stockpot or dutch oven. Over medium-high heat, cook the onion and carrot for five minutes. Add in the garlic, tomato paste and thyme leaves. Stir and cook for about two more minutes, until the garlic is fragrant but not browning. Add the vegetable stock and reserved tomato juices, bring the mixture to a boil. Add the tomatoes to the pot. Reduce the heat to a simmer. and cook until vegetables are completely tender - about 20 minutes. Using an immersion blender (or in batches in a blender), blend the soup into a thick mixture.

Prepare the eggs - Heat the oil in a pan or on a skillet over medium-high heat. Leave plenty of room between eggs, if you have space to cook more than one egg at once. Break egg into a ramekin and pour it onto the heated, oiled surface. When the egg begins to solidify, slide a spatula under the sides of the egg. When the white is just-shy of fully solid, flip the egg over for about 30 seconds and remove promptly. For extra-luxurious eggs, baste the top of the egg with the pan's oil while frying. Refresh oil as needed.

Finish it up - Ladle the soup into bowls and carefully slide an egg in the middle of each bowl. I add freshly cracked black pepper and - occasionally - some hot sauce to my egg. Serve with thick, toasted slices of multi-grain bread.

Squirrels in the Kitchen

2009-03-11T10:23:00.002-04:00

I hopped over to FinnStyle today, via a link from Oh Joy, and found what may be my new favorite pretty tea towel set fresh from Marimekko, maker of all things designy/adorable.

Are you seeing what I'm seeing? There are not only deer/elk and bear faces on that blue towel - the purple/blue towel has squirrels on it! Squirrels in a kitchen towel, feasting on acorns! Love it.

adorable Einstein party @ Design Mom

2009-03-04T10:00:00.002-05:00

As if a woman freshly in her 30s needed another reason to think about the big babies-or-not question, so many insanely adorable party ideas can be found in this blog world. (Yes, I know that's kind of silly reason to consider the question - much more serious reason exist, they're just not right for this setting.)

Case in point: Design Mom's awesome post about an Einstein birthday party. Check it out!

Green balloons and Einstein faces - the perfect party decoration for a smart little cookie!

I'm especially in love with this party because it's a girl's party. Too often, young girls get stuck on the princess track - as attractive as that can be and as special as that can be for some girls, it's not the only track for a girl to be on. As both a youth development advocate and the daughter of a super-smart engineer, I see this party as an awesome model for parents-of-girls to consider when planning a fun, engaging birthday experience.

Transitions at Northside News

2009-03-03T09:04:00.005-05:00

Following up on friend's twitter post about a potential store closing, I called Joe at Northside News - the magazine portion - this morning. And what I found out will surely limit my magazine purchases and makes me sad, but got me to return from my blogging hiatus...

Due to tightening in the magazine business and some issues with distributors, Joe Walters has chosen to close the newsstand portion of the Northside News and hand over the space to the Cafe. In other words, I may not be able to buy my favorite niche food publications without a trip to the far-suburbs, but we'll all still be able to enjoy the awesome pressed sandwiches from the Cafe, in even more space.

picture from the Northside News Cafe's Facebook page

Newsstands are one of my favorite kinds of store. My dad probably inspired my addiction to monthly and quarterly paper publications with frequent stops at smokey and compact little news-sellers throughout my childhood. Having a bright, smoke-less (at least since the cafe opened) place to indulge my desire for shiny, glossy pictures of food and interiors and travel destinations has been one of my favorite parts of living on the North side of Indianapolis.

I'll miss you Northside News (the magazine portion)! I'm excited to keep eating the tofu Reuben and Mother Jones veggie sandwiches, even if I won't have copies of Olive or Budget Travel to keep me company.

For those of you wondering, Joe will be taking time to finish up his degree in computer networking, adding to his existing English degree. Also, to check out the wonderful impact that this little newsstand has had, check out this report from WFYI's Communities Building Community, hosted by former Indiana First Lady Judy O'Bannon.

soup swap, the details

2009-01-30T08:36:00.005-05:00

Following up from my in-brief post on the soup swap, here are some details about afternoon of food-sharing.

a sample of the soups - maybe one-fourth of the bounty

The Soups
Wow - 28 (29 if you count the late-day add-in) different soups were brought to the swap. Actually, some folks brought two or three kinds of soup, but there were 28 swappers, so that's the official number for us.
In any case, here's the run-down:

Dave B.'s Indian Beef & Berry Soup with bonus papadam
Beth's (Emeril's) Tortilla Soup w/ Cajun-Spiced Corn Crisps
Chef Carl Conway's Gumbo ("If you put a spot on your forehead, your tongue might beat you silly.")
PJ's Thai Spice Chicken ("Jalapeno Hot") - "Most Likely to Blow Your Brains Out (with Heat)" winner of a squeezy-brain head
Leanne's (that's my mom!) Corn Chowder
Vinnie's Minestrone (now called Vinnie-strone among swappers)
Beth's Spicy Curry Lentil Soup
Lani's Cashew Chili
Denise's Curried Squash Soup
Amy's Spicy Black Ben Soup
Valorie's Vegetable Soup with Tofu
Rachel's Quinoa, Spinach & Corn Chowder
Nora's Corn & Potato Chowder
Jen's Celeriac Bisque AND Almost African Soup
Mark's Cream of Cauliflower & Stilton
Andy's Homemade Chicken Noodle (noodles and stock from scratch!) AND White Bean & Kale Soup
Mitch's Mexican Corn, 3 Chile & Cheese Soup with homemade spicy croutons
Ben S. & Kirsten's Spanish Garbanzo & Almond Soup with Saffron and Parsley
Megan's Corn & Potato Chowder
Ben J. & Natalie's Transcendental Lentil - "Most Worthy of a Dinner Party" winner of a meal-planning pad
Nikki's Black Bean Soup
Robyn & Jason's Westphalian Lentil Soup (with nut-fed hammyness) - "Rookie of the Swap" winner of an EnviroSax
Christy's Southwestern Veggie
Derk's Sopa de Puerto Rico ("I would have made it with love, but I didn't want to get too serious yet.")
Damon's "Empty My Pantry" Pork Chili
John's Oxtail Stew - garden veggies, homegrown sweet corn, oxtail base & love!
Natalie's Indiana Chowder (with lima beans!)
Dave G.'s Spicy Veggie Chili
And the late-arriver: Richard's Kill Granny Smith - apple curry soup

Natalie and Dave G. also won some Second Helpings schwag for bringing the most pasta to donate to this worthy, food-rescuing, hunger-fighting, people-empowering, Ben-employing non-profit!

the best view of the soup table & crowd: Mitch telling his soup

I can't begin to say how much I love the swap - the telling of the soup, the sharing stories, the multigenerational crowd, the fun, the black bean and potato tamalitos that we shared, the prizes, the people - really, the people. We are so fortunate to be a part of a community that is this fun, this participatory, this joyful. And the community goes beyond our little Naptown gathering, check out the National Soup Swap site, too!

Naptown Soup Swap: 28 soups!

2009-01-26T09:56:00.004-05:00

CORRECTION: There were actually 29 (and arguably 30) soups. Holy cow.

In a feat heretofore unseen in our living , this year's Naptown Soup Swap included 28 soups. And, if it hadn't been for a teensy time mix-up, there would have been 29 soups. Ben and I never knew that our table could handle 168 quarts of soup, but it did.

A complete roster of soups will follow this post, but here is an almost complete picture of the mighty Soup Swappery crowd, as well as a picture of a couple of the many, many soups. (Thanks, Nora!)

spraka peppermill, coming soon to IKEA

2009-01-14T15:31:00.003-05:00

Oh, IKEA, how I love it. Their inexpensive and modern designs make me happy. And, as emmas designblogg reports, they'll add some very fun pieces soon to the PS collection.

The new PS pieces, which won't be out until later in 2009, appear to be mostly non-kitchen items. But one special peppermill, the Spraka (read about IKEA naming conventions elsewhere) has caught my eye. And I must have it!Looks like I'll have to wait a while. But a trip to Cincinnati means a visit with a great gal, so I'm happy to have more reasons to head there.

Naptown Soup Swap 2009

2009-01-14T09:13:00.004-05:00

It's that time of year again... the 2nd Annual (and 4th actual) Naptown Soup Swap will take place Sunday, January 25! If you received an email or postcard about the party, then this is where you can get the soup-swap guidelines. If you didn't get an invitation and you'd like one, email me to join the good times. (You can read about last year's swap in this previous post.)

last year's telling of the soup

This is a national movement of cookers who bring six quarts of their homemade soups and leave with six quarts of other people's homemade soups. Pretty awesome, huh? At our swap, we also gather dried pasta for Second Helpings, a donation made extra special this year since that's now Ben's employer. Check out the many other places swapping and souping at the national website.

Here are the guidelines for soup-swappers:
1. Decide on the soup you'd like to share, cook it up, freeze it, and bring six one-quart portable containers of it. There aren't rules about the kind of soup you might bring, but there are plenty of vegetarians and vegans on this list... Sadly, we cannot guarantee that individual food needs will be met with each quart you receive. If you are meat free, you may get to share with your meathead friends who will doubtless appreciate your generosity.

2. We all get together at the appointed time and have a little mingle time, then a little "Telling of the Soup" time, and finally we swap. The soup is selected in rounds. Special prizes will be distributed, per the host's and hostess's unpredictable but also lovable whims.

3. Can't come, but want to swap? Send a proxy. Your proxy must bring your soup, but they will have the last pick in each soup selection round.

4. Tastings will not be possible, as soups will be frozen, but each swapper will tell the special story of his or her own soup, to guide our selections. We'll have some snacks & drinks, but not a whole meal. Your soup bounty will be enjoyed at a later date.

5. No cook-y, no come-y. You get one quart of soup for each quart you bring, which means you get six quarts of new, exciting soups. If you don't make soup, you don't get soup, so why come at all?

Email me with any additional questions.

congratulations to Ben!

2009-01-12T10:58:00.002-05:00

Today, Ben kicked off his new gig with Second Helpings. In case you don't remember, from several previous posts, Second Helpings is one of Indianapolis' very best organizations. They work to eliminate hunger, fight food waste & empower people. Ben will be helping them to craft messages and raise support. Basically, he'll be inviting more people into their fold.

So, what does Ben do the weekend before he starts a brand new job? Does he spend the whole weekend planning and resting? No, he throws a cozy but elaborate dinner party for my birthday, preparing the main dish, appetizer and dessert and orchestrating contributions for the rest. Here he is frying mushrooms, rather than resting on his laurels. Great guy. Love him. So happy. (More on the gathering later!)

Not only am I proud of Ben for getting a job with such an undeniably cool organization, I'm also incredibly excited about how Ben will be contributing to their work.

super-simple brie & berries

2009-01-07T14:46:00.002-05:00

We invite people over a lot. Some might say too much. But it still doesn't feel like often enough to me... In any case, when you entertain regularly, it is nice to have a few pretty and simple dishes at your disposal.

Today's featured dish couldn't be simpler. It relies on access to affordable "baby" brie (yes, brie is best aged, foodie folk, but this is a good use of its less complicated little brother), a well-stocked pantry and pretty berries. So, here it is, as part of our New Year's Eve spread, brie with raspberries and pomegranate.

Recipe (or really, assembly instructions): Brie with Raspberry & Pomegranate
Serves a house-full as party of a buffet

Ingredients
1 20-ounce round of baby brie
3-4 Tablespoons of raspberry preserves (a less-sweet preserve is ideal)
pomegranate molasses - a generous drizzle/too taste
1 pint of raspberries
pomegranate seeds* from one pomegranate (or buy one of those packages of just seeds)

Assemble
Slice the top rind off the brie. If you'd prefer, to you can slice off the sides of the rind, too.
Combine the preserves and molasses, tasting to get the flavor you'd enjoy. Spread the preserve mixture over the brie. Add berries and pomegranate seeds, scattering them over and around the cheese wheel.

*Pomegranate seed tip: I like to break open a pomegranate and knock hard on the chunks into a bowl of water with a fine-mesh strainer set inside. The water prevents it from becoming a juicy mess, helps you find any lingering white pith and the strainer makes it easy to remove the seeds.

big bang birthday

2009-01-06T17:22:00.003-05:00

Before I head out to birthday dinner with my guy, I want to share a fun little idea for personalizing poppers. If we hadn't let all of our guests use them at midnight on New Year's Eve, little explosions of confetti would likely mark my birthday celebration.

How to jazz up your cheap poppers:

Take a label off of one of them.
Use any paper that you like - I used origami paper - and cut them out, using the original label as a template.
Apply glue to one edge of the wrapper and smooth it tightly over the other edge.
Done - party up!

pantry upgrade: tamari, the real soy sauce

2009-01-06T11:22:00.005-05:00

In celebration of my 30th birthday (whoo-hoo), I'm finally returning to my blog. I took a technology hiatus over the holiday and it was lovely. But it's time to come back. I've missed you!

If you'd like to celebrate my birthday with a grocery trip, I'd like to make a recommendation to you. If you're not already enjoying tamari, if you're still rocking the "soy sauce" sold by liars or handed to you in little packets at the Chinese take-out joint, then you probably don't know the dirty little secret played on America by condiment companies. Most of the "soy" sauce available in this country isn't pure soy. No, no, no! It is made with a combination of wheat (cheaper than soy) and soy and sometimes scary flavoring and additives.

For true soy sauce, brewed and fermented from just soy, buy bottles of "tamari". Behold, the tamari from our fridge, light in sodium because of a little blood pressure issue that creeps up on me now and again.

For more details about "soy" sauce and tamari, read this article from YumSugar.

Check out my previous pantry upgrade, tomato paste in a tube!

nice little gifts for cooks

2008-12-19T10:52:00.009-05:00

Looking to finalize your holiday shopping for a cook who is near and dear to you? Here are some simple, budget-friendly little gifts for kitchen-adventurers like you and me. With the exception of the pretty cookie cutters, these are all greatest hits from my own kitchen.

For the Franco-phile
L'econome wood-handled paring knife ~ $8
These little beauties can often be found at Sur L'Table and Williams Sonoma.

For those who love egg nog
A microplane and a little container with whole nutmeg (freshly grated is SO much better!) ~$15
If you're in Indianapolis, pick up some whole nutmeg from the herb counter at the Good Earth for a few bucks.
Microplanes are available at almost any place that sells kitchen items and many online sellers. They come in a few different grades and widths, so pick one that you think the recipient would use often.

For anyone who gave you a batch of delicious cookies
Warning: this item may be frivolous and is not for those seeking to de-clutter their lives
Copper snowflake cookie cutters - $15 (on sale!) from Williams Sonoma

For people who chop a lot of veggies
Epicurean boards are awesome - virtually maintenance free, optional trivets, environmentally friendly (for super-greenies, you can also check out their new recycled cardboard option). They range in cost from $13 to $130, but a decent countertop size is offered for around $20.
Most mid- to up-scale kitchen supplies places stock Epicurean boards, as does Amazon.
For the cocktail-ista
Tovolo Perfect Cube Silicone Ice Trays, retail ~$15 for a set of two
You can get these from Amazon and/or most well-stocked mega-home box stores.And don't forget that some of the best gifts are those that you make yourself. Check out my upcoming post on my family's time-honored traditions of candy cane cookies and povitica for two very different holiday baking ideas.

Irish-American fondue

2008-12-18T10:20:00.008-05:00

Last weekend, we celebrated Ben's 35th birthday. In honor of Ben's birth, we had a little gathering of friends. As has become our Ben birthday tradition, fondue and games were at the core of the festivities. The idea of fondue can bring up 70's era images and some culinary fears, but I have to tell you, it's not that difficult and it doesn't have to feel like a flashback!

my Guitar Hero, Nantucket cake (times two) & two of my too-many fondue pots

Our guests (or at least the early-arrivers - the fondue disappeared quickly) snacked on Irish-American cheddar and fontina fondues, served with slices of pears and apples, cubes of Pumpernickel, seedy-salted and rustic white breads, and steamed Brussels sprouts and fingerling potatoes. Since the star of the night was the Irish-American cheddar fondue, you can find the recipe below. Crowds seem to prefer the combination of the Irish and American cheddars to either cheese on its own - the American makes it creamier and the Irish adds a nice bite and more complex flavor. Please, please, please don't leave out the Brussles sprouts; they are the perfect counterpoint to the warm cheese.

You don't actually have to serve the fondue in a fondue pot, a warmed ceramic bowl could work nicely - especially if you have enough of a crowd to devour it quickly. However, I would argue that every family should possess and utilize a fondue pot. So strong is my belief (and my acquisitive attitude toward awesome vintage fondue pots) that we have no less than 5 in our home. There may actually be a few more than that, but I'd prefer not to disclose all of my secrets! Anyway, when you can pick up attractive and never-before-used vintage fondue pots like the stainless steel one I recently picked up for $4, still wrapped up inside the box, you have no excuse not to own and use a fondue pot.

In addition to the fondue, we had Nantucket cake (dense almond cake covering sweet-tart cranberries), Irish-whiskey sidecars, and lots of Guitar Hero fun.

Recipe: Irish-American Fondue
Adapted from Chow's Irish Cheddar and Stout Fondue
Serves 6 or more as a snack

Ingredients
8 ounces sharp Irish cheddar, grated
6 ounces sharp American cheddar, grated
1 1/2 Tablespoons of flour
3 teaspoons of unsalted butter
Half of a large onion, grated
1/8 teaspoon freshly grated nutmeg
1/4 teaspoon salt (may need to add more later)
1 cup of good Irish or American stout (oatmeal stout was really yummy)
1 Tablespoon of seedy mustard OR spicy deli mustard (the latter will make it more American!)

Make it up!
Stir the two cheddars and the flour together in a medium bowl. Set aside.

Heat the butter in a small pot or your fondue pot over medium heat. Once it is melted and a bit foamy, add the onion. Cook for about 5 minutes, until the onions turn translucent and golden. Add the nutmeg, salt and stout, and reduce heat to get a simmer. Simmer for 5 minutes. Add the mustard, whisking until well-combined.

Add the cheese to the stout-onion combination by small handfuls. Whisk in eat handful until smooth before adding the next handful. If the mixture gets too thick, add a little more stout. Taste, adding additional salt if necessary (that will depend on your cheese and mustard).

Serve with tart apple slices, dark or seeded bread cubes, and - most especially - steamed Brussles sprouts (they take about 4 minutes to steam), sliced in half.

Bob Landman will be missed.

2008-12-08T07:44:00.005-05:00

Early yesterday morning, Ben received news that his former longtime boss, Bob Landman, had very suddenly passed away on Saturday night. As the proprietor of the Good Earth, one of Indianapolis' very best local food outlets, Bob had a huge impact on access to high quality foods in our city. His commitment to good food, to running his business as a good person, and his witty, welcoming manner defined the environment at the Good Earth and made it a fun place to be.

Beyond that, Bob helped my wonderful husband become who he is. He allowed Ben to take time off for long stretches, which gave Ben the chance to make music throughout his early 20s. Bob also served as Ben's educational loan officer more than once. The opportunity he gave Ben, several years ago, to create an online shopping outlet for the Good Earth, has led Ben to his current career. But much more than that, Bob Landman was a supporter and a mentor to Ben, and to many others.

There's a great picture of Ben with Bob on the wall of the Good Earth, a picture I wish dearly that I could post here. If you have a chance to stop by, you can check it out as you enter the produce/chip room.

One of Bob Landman's great contributions, around the Good Earth and beyond, was his ability to foster community. That ability means that many people have experienced a very surprising and significant loss and my love goes out to all of them, but especially to his family and closest friends.

The viewing for Bob Landman will take place at Leppert Funeral Home at the Nora Chapel:
Wednesday, December 10 4-8PM
740 East 86th Street
Indianapolis, IN 46240
317-844-3966

The funeral will take place at St. Joan of Arc:
Thursday, December 11 10AM
4217 Central Avenue
Indianapolis, IN 46205
317-283-5508 | Fax: 317-283-5511 E-mail: | Web site: www.sjoa.org

don't forget to read...

2008-11-25T16:01:00.000-05:00

... Renee at Feed Me/Drink Me - She's got mega-pre-Thanksgiving coverage happening. And, really, you should be there.

... Heidi at 101 Cookbooks - With more than vegetarian and vegan recipes than you could possibly cook in the next two days, you can find some lovely and new dishes here for your table.

... Martha (and her minions) Stewart's Thanksgiving page - In case you'd like more to do between now and Thanksgiving, Martha has recipes, craft and decorating ideas.

when the vegetarian came to Thanksgiving, part 2

2008-11-25T13:23:00.003-05:00

Now that we've covered the basics on how to be a gracious vegetarian guest at a non-vegetarian feast, let's talk a little bit about what it takes to graciously host a vegetarian guest at your non-vegetarian feast. It is the policy at my home that, when I invite someone over, they are welcomed in spirit and in food and drink. Sharing nourishing foods with everyone truly makes me happy, and I imagine that you are just the same.

Thanksgiving Everyday Cake from The Small Object

How to be a gracious host to your vegetarian guests
In case you are hosting someone with more limited eating options than yourself, here are a few hints on making the experience happy for everyone.

If you know about their eating restrictions, clarify them through the invitation process, to be sure you are aware of their needs.
Make as many side dishes that are vegetarian/vegan/nut-free/etc. as possible. Using vegetable stock in dressing/stuffing and baking some in a separate pan, if you otherwise stuff your bird, is a special treat. If you have a vegan guest, you can whip sweet potatoes with coconut milk, add in some spices and create a yummy autumnal side dish without butter.
Invite the vegetarian guest to bring and/or suggest a good main dish option. Many guests will probably indicate that they are happy to contribute OR that they are happy with the many side dishes available at Thanksgiving.
Be aware that the following items are not strictly vegetarian: marshmallows (gelatin), many frozen vegetables with sauce (gelatin, again), Worcestershire sauce (anchovies), many brands of sour cream (darned gelatin), Caeser salad dressing (anchovies), some pre-packaged pie crusts (lard) and many cheeses (rennet and pepsin are animal products used in production). For a more complete listing, this "hidden animal products in foods" list is helpful, especially if you are hosting a vegan.

Any other tips or questions? Please share below!

when the vegetarian came to Thanksgiving, part 1

2008-11-25T09:19:00.005-05:00

Holidays should involve a welcoming, kind and courteous spirit. But we all know that they can devolve into something not entirely gracious. The vegetarian at Thanksgiving is an almost too-easy example of one situation in which your Thanksgiving can become uncomfortable, confused and, in the worst of cases, spiteful.

Eddie Ross's pumpkin seeds - good for all guests!
Link through for pumpkin centerpieces.

To prevent that from happening, I've come up with a few hints for the non-vegetarian host of a vegetarian and the vegetarian guest at a non-vegetarian celebration. These hints are not necessarily specific to Thanksgiving, so please feel free to utilize them at other celebrations throughout the year.

First: How to be a delightful vegetarian guest at a non-vegetarian celebration

Let the host now, well in advance, about your dietary restrictions. Immediately offer to be of assistance by bringing a dish or two.
If the host sounds concerned about meeting your needs, be considerate and supportive. Do not give orders or assume that it is your hosts' duty to accommodate your every need.
At the meal, make no mention of your reasons for your dietary restriction, unless asked. This is not the time to try to convert your cousin's daughter to the vegetarian camp. Nice vegetarians are much more convincing than strident vegetarians.
If the host has made any accommodations for your restrictions, thank them, ideally more than once. Remark on how sweet they've been, how delicious their cooking is or how welcome you've felt in their home. Every host enjoys hearing what they've done well.
If you allow for any flexibility or ambiguity in your diet, now is the time to embrace it. If you don't, now is the time to be interested in someone's recipe and to ask nicely about its contents.
The best guests at any celebration are those that are fun, interested in others, grateful for the host's work and full of happiness. Whatever you do, do not be the dour meat-abstainer. Even if your plate holds only mashed potatoes and green bean casserole, enjoy the experience!

cheddar risotto with glazed acorn squash

2008-11-24T15:07:00.002-05:00

Choosing a vegetarian main dish for Thanksgiving can be tricky. With traditional side dishes like mashed potatoes, candied sweet potatoes, green beans and dressing and the regular desserts like pecan, apple and pumpkin pies, you want to find something with a new texture, flavor and presentation. The dishes that I suggested last week all accomplish that mission, but I've got one more for you - cheddar risotto with glazed acorn squash.

Feel free to separate the two elements of this dish; each stands well on its own. The squash would be a natural addition to the Thanksgiving table, the risotto less so. But both dishes are warm and satisfying. This would also be a great meal for the night before Thanksgiving, hinting at the meal to come and offering a warm welcome to overnight guests. The squash glaze can also be happily used for other vegetables or lighter meats (fish or chicken would probably work well).

Recipe: Cheddar Risotto with Glazed Acorn Squash
Serves four

Ingredients
2 small acorn squash
1/2 cup balsamic vinegar
1/4 cup soy sauce (Tamari is best)
2 Tablespoons brown sugar
Black pepper

3 cups vegetable stock
2 Tablespoons butter
1 Tablespoon olive oil
1 yellow onion, finely diced
4 scallions, sliced once lengthwise and then in little half-circles
1 cup arborio or carnaroli rice
1/2 cup good beer - stouts work well for this (or more veg stock)
1/2 cup extra sharp cheddar
Nutmeg
Black pepper and salt

Make the squash!
Preheat the oven to 350 degrees. Line a jellyroll pan with aluminum foil and lightly oil the foil. Slice each acorn squash in half, from stem end to the bottom. Remove seeds and fiber around the seeds. Place each half, peel side up and bake for 30 minutes. Meanwhile, combine the balsamic, soy sauce, brown sugar and black pepper to taste (about 1/4 teaspoon to start).

[At about 25 minutes into the squash baking time, you'll want to begin your risotto.]

Remove from the squash from the oven, flip the halves so they are upright and lightly pierce or score the squash halves. Brush the halves with the glaze - you're likely to have some glaze left over - and put back in the oven. Bake for 20 more minutes, covered with foil. Remove foil and cook about 10 more minutes, checking for done-ness.

Make the risotto!
Bring the vegetable stock to a light simmer in a small pot. Keep to the side of your risotto pan.

Heat the butter and oil together in a low, wide pan, ideally with straight sides, over medium heat. When all the foam is gone and the fats are well-combined, add the onion, cooking until it is just translucent. Add the scallions and cook for 2 more minutes. Add the rice, cooking until the rice turns opaque - this should take around 5 minutes.

Reduce heat to medium low. Add the beer, stirring regularly until it is absorbed. Then, add the stock by the ladle-full, allowing the stock to fully absorb before adding your next ladle. Repeat this process over and over, until the rice is al dente and creamy. The whole process should take between 20 and 25 minutes (though I've had carnaroli especially that took a bit longer).

Stir in the cheese, grate a little bit of nutmeg in and add salt and pepper, to taste. To make it all a bit prettier, you can also add a bit of sliced scallion to the top.

Serve it up!
For party presentation: Place the acorn squash in a circle on a large platter and either spoon the risotto in each half or place it in the center of the platter.

pumpkin gelato

2008-11-24T11:56:00.003-05:00

What do you do on a lazy, cold Saturday? If you're like me, you pick up some gelato to let the chill sink in more deeply. And you happily take the passenger seat as your husband drives you underneath overarching branches of golds, reds and burnt orange.

Several gelatos (chestnut, anyone?) lend themselves and their considerable flavor to this sort of weekend drive, but the heavenly spiced pumpkin gelato from Goose the Market may be most ideal.

Tonic Gallery & Ball Tonight!

2008-11-21T13:36:00.006-05:00

To my darling Indianapolis readers,

I really, really hope to see you tonight at the Tonic Gallery. I'm on the committee this year and will be sharing some goodies from 6 to 8 pm at Big Car Gallery in Fountain Square. Of course, you'll probably want to head over to the Tonic Ball, too, so you can listen to local artists perform songs made famous by Elvis and Queen.

In addition to the art that you can bid on - to benefit one of my nonprofit favorites, Second Helpings - you can also snack on goat cheese with fig-walnut tapenade, brie with pomegranate drizzle, lemon-thyme dipping sauce, and rosemary-garlic white bean spread. Of course, there will be crackers and veggies to go along with that...

Hope to see you there!

Finding your vegetarian main.

2008-11-20T09:12:00.004-05:00

My favorite holiday is Thanksgiving. Instead of being about stuff or sometimes exclusive religious beliefs, Thanksgiving is about family and community. Of course, Thanksgiving is also about food and parades. In other words, it is the best holiday that anyone can imagine.

In my family, the addition of a vegetarian main dish to the Thanksgiving table is part of what makes it my favorite holiday. There's a healthy contingent of non-meat-eaters in my family and my mom, bless her heart, pulls us together to make a main vegetarian dish at each Thanksgiving. Though there are plenty of vegetarian sides in the traditional Thanksgiving spread, I believe that the main dish contributes to a feeling of complete inclusion and would recommend it to anyone hosting a Thanksgiving that includes vegetarians. (That said, I would urge vegetarian guests to offer to bring said main dish - that's the most gracious way to be a veggie guest.)

A smattering of delicious-sounding vegetarian main dishes to choose from:

Smitten Kitchen's Mushroom-Barley Pie

Baked Pumpkin with Root Vegetable Stew from NPR
Golden Lentil Roulade with Chestnut Stuffing (My mama-la approves!)
Delicata Squash and Roasted Mushrooms with Thyme

If you have another great vegetarian main, please share! I'll be posting new and exciting Thanksgiving sides sometime very soon, as well as a main dish or two from my own kitchen.

white (bean) chicken chili

2008-11-17T13:59:00.002-05:00

By popular request, here is the recipe for the white chicken chili I made for the Election Night Party. Of course, I didn't get a picture of the chili, but there's a blurry picture of our soup bowls (vintage Fire King - gotta love the King) to pique your visual interest. Before you read on, a heads up: I did not taste the final product, as I don't eat chicken. But everyone said it was good...

The approach I use for this chili can be applied to many flavor profiles. The basic plan:

Saute some veggies in plentiful fat - onions, carrots, celery and/or garlic.
Stir in some flour to make a roux.
Add milk, whisk it until it all gets thick and soupy.
Puree. (If you'd like a chunkier soup, remove the veggies before you roux it up and add a bit more fat.)
Add the chunky bits: beans, sauteed greens, corn, peas or, if you do the whole meat thing, shredded meat.
If it seems a little thick, add some stock.

But on to this recipe. Recipe: White (Bean) Chicken Chili
Serves: 6

Ingredients
2 Tablespoons olive oil
2 Tablespoons butter
1 onion, chopped
2 yellow carrots, cut in a small dice
3 cloves of garlic, minced
2 teaspoons cumin seed, finely chopped or ground
4 Tablespoons flour
2 roasted, chopped chilies (pick one to suit your heat preference - poblanos are safe) or 1 little can of chopped, cooked chilies, drained
2 cups milk
3 cups home-cooked white beans or 2 14-ounce cans of white beans
2-3 cups shredded cooked chicken (Ben shredded some purchased roasted chicken)
Salt, pepper and cayenne

Make it up!
Heat the olive oil and butter together in stockpot over medium heat. Add the onion and carrots and saute until the onions are translucent. Add the garlic and cumin, saute for one more minute. Stir in the flour, cooking it all together and adding extra butter if any of the flour stays white and/or dry. Cook for a couple of minutes, but do not let the mixture brown. Add the chilies and milk, whisking until combined and lower the heat to medium-low.

When the mixture is thick enough to lightly coat the back of a spoon, blend it all up with an immersion blender. If you don't have an immersion blender, blend it in a traditional blender in small batches and return the soup to the original pot.

Add the beans and chicken. Keep the pot over medium-low heat until it is heated through. If the mixture seems too thick, you can add chicken or vegetable stock. Flavor with a healthy amount of salt, pepper and, if you're feeling kicky, cayenne.

election day recap & tomato-corn chowder

2008-11-13T10:09:00.002-05:00

I love voting. I love elections. I am wonky. It should come as no surprise that I enjoy coming up with reason to have people over. These reasons and many more led to what some may regard as over-committing myself this past election day. But it's also why, the night before election day, it felt like Christmas Eve - that powerful combination of anticipation, nervousness and excitement.

The narrative of overcommitment:

Night before: workday, quick soup cooking, Master Gardener class until 9 pm, followed by more soup preparations.
Waiting to vote until Election Day, wanting to make sure there was no shady business happening around my polling place.
Signing up to volunteer for canvassing for the candidate of my choice.
Deciding to add apple struesel cupcakes into the food mix and to run out to pick up chips, bread and drinks as the guest list had grown throughout the day. The more the merrier!
Party kick-off at 7 pm. And hosting duties until the final announcement and speeches had been made.

No election night party is complete without an astounding number of add-ins brought by guests. There were so many snacky bits - sweet and savory - that I hesitate to list them for fear of forgetting anyone's additions. Fear be damned! Here are some highlights: homemade apple pie, "it's been a rocky election road" brownies, fudge you can believe in, salsas, spinach artichoke dip, a giant election-themed cookie, a dense and rich almond cake with blueberry sauce and summer slaw from the grocery deli - so surprising good. There was plenty more, but a girl can only sample so much!

But on to the educational moment of this entry: my recipe for tomato-corn chowder. This stuff is so, so good, based on a recipe from an old, tattered Horn of the Moon ccokbook that got me and my mom through the first several years of my vegetarianism.

Recipe: Tomato-Corn Chowder
Serves about 4-6

Ingredients
1-2 Tablespoons olive oil
1 large yellow onion, diced
1 Tablespoon fresh thyme
1 teaspoon dried oregano
1 28 ounce can whole tomatoes, whirled in a blender or in the can with a hand-blender
3 large fresh tomatoes, chopped
2 cups water or light (not garlicky!) vegetable stock
1 cup half & half (or heavy cream if you're feeling decadent)
1/4 cup flour, ideally Wondra ultra-fine flour
2 1/2 cups corn kernels
2/3 cup parsley, chopped
salt and pepper (white pepper is ideal) to taste
sharp cheddar, shredded (optional)

Make it up!
Heat the oil over medium heat in a stock pot. Add the onions and herbs, stirring frequently. You want the onions translucent and, after a little bit and possibly turning your heat up a bit, slightly brown at the edges. Add in the tomatoes, fresh and canned, and the water or broth. Bring to a low simmer and cook for 30 minutes.

Make a slurry by combining the half & half and the flour until smooth. Add in a ladle of the soup, stir. Add in another ladle and stir again. (This tempers the slurry well enough to add back into the soup.) Combine the slurry and soup in the stockpot and stir.

Turn down the heat to very low. Add the corn, parsley, salt and pepper. Simmer over low heat, covered, for 15 minutes. Serve with the optional white cheddar for the best experience.

If anyone's interested, I'm also happy to post recipes for the white chicken chili and black bean & poblano soups - just holler!

Locally Grown Gardens - the restaurant

2008-11-12T13:21:00.003-05:00

Quick little happy note - Locally Grown Gardens will be opening nightly, Monday through Friday, for pulled pork, assorted sides and other yummy bits. Check out the details the good news at the LLG blog!

Circle City Sweets

2008-11-10T10:57:00.004-05:00

Community makes me so happy. The last week offered me bountiful reminders of the value of community. A small but special example: how I met Cindy Hawkins from Circle City Sweets.

Step one: Reading Renee's post about roasting chestnuts at Feed Me/Drink Me, I decided to comment about my favorite frozen treat - chestnut gelato. Cindy had left a comment about using chestnuts in pastries - something that we should all rally behind - and that led me to explore her website.

Step two: I saw that she makes madeleines. Maybe it's the Proustian melancholy in me, but I had an immediate need to find those madeleines and eat them. Circle City Sweets doesn't have a storefront quite yet, but Cindy does supply goodies to a variety of stores and restaurants around town. I sent her a quick email, asking who among those outlets might carry the madeleines. And, you know what? Nobody does! The horror. The outrage.

Step three: Cindy offers to make a batch of the delicious, lemon-infused shells. Of course, I accepted her generous offer with positive glee. When Cindy dropped them by my house last week, the cellophane surrounding the madeleines was warm with oven-fresh heat. Home for lunch, Ben and I each gobbled one up. On the way back to work, I called Ben just to talk about how good they were.

I've eaten a few madeleines in my life. They've usually come in individually-wrapped plastic packages that have been on the shelf for God-knows-how-long and they've usually been just okay. These were something so much better - little buttery, lemon-infused cakes with a golden exterior and lightly dusted with powdered sugar. Cindy also dropped by chocolatey and salt-touched caramels - delicious!

Cindy's got a host of made-to-order Thanksgiving specials including persimmon bread pudding, chocolate-pomegranate cake (drooling here!) and bourbon pecan tarts. Visit her Circle City Sweets website to see all the possibilities!

Two other posts-to-come about community and its value: election party coverage and the impeccable atmosphere at Maxine's Chicken and Waffles.

free food for voting, the legal way

2008-11-04T06:21:00.001-05:00

The Queen of Free is sharing some great information about free food & coffee that you can get today just because you have done your civic duty and voted.

Surely, you've seen the Starbucks commercials, but she's also got tips on free Ben & Jerry's and Crispy Cremes!!! So, as long as you have visited the polls, you might want to take advantage of these generous offers.

Indy Winter Farmer's Market Begins November 15

2008-11-03T18:28:00.000-05:00

Have you been down in the dumps about the end of Farmer's Market season? Are you already longing for the hustle and bustle of a Saturday morning trip to the market?
Well, put that sadness to rest! The Indy Winter Farmer's Market begins November 15th and will offer yummy produce and local products throughout the season on Saturdays. To keep track of this exciting venture, check out the dedicated market blog.

Another winter idea: if you're looking for a fun host/hostess gift for parties, these pretty little snowflake coasters from greenchairpress on etsy would likely please anybody who opens their doors to company.

Can you tell that this Indian Summer is not my preferred early-November weather?

election watch party!

2008-11-03T11:17:00.004-05:00

Tomorrow is Election Day, and there is much excitement at our house. We'll be having a little election watch party tomorrow night, complete with red (tomato-corn chowder), white (chicken chili - the rare meaty dish) and blue-black (black bean soup) food and Electoral College coloring maps.

Of course, I'll fill you in on the nitty-gritty details after the party, but I thought it might be a good idea to post a quick little reminder to vote and a few fun ideas about what you can do to celebrate election night with food.

American classics, like Elana's apple crisp, make excellent election food!

Here goes (and please feel free to add your suggestions in the comments!)...

Black bean dip (buy some or just saute onions, garlic and cumin and blend them up with black beans, adding a bit of reserved black bean liquid - add salt and pepper to taste) with corn chips and red pepper strips
Cupcakes - like Martha's (thanks, Kelly) or decorated your own way (or your children's way) with sprinkles, powdered sugar or colored frosting
Foods that celebrate our country's diversity - make up some chowder (clam or vegetarian) to represent the Northeast, grill a California-style pizza with fun and innovative toppings, throw in some collared greens or fried green tomatoes to represent the South and pick from a dish or two from your family's cultural heritage
The "official" all-American foods are a great way to celebrate, too. Chicago-style hot dogs (we make them with Smart dogs at our house), apple pie or crisp, fried chicken, green bean casserole, macaroni and cheese and ding-dongs could probably unite any politically-divided family.

Either way, I hope that you have a great Election Day. I'll be volunteering the whole day and can't wait to kick back and watch the returns come in!

scary & scrumptious?

2008-10-30T10:06:00.004-04:00

Besides the pile of sweets for trick-or-treaters, does anyone have exciting food plans for Halloween?

There are plenty of despicably delicious foods from Martha, truly the queen of crafty Halloween. Seriously, have you seen how seriously she takes the holiday? And how it brings out her less-OCD side? Love her at Halloween.

Swamp Sips

Brain Cupcakes

If you don't have Halloween food plans this year, please share any fond memories of Halloween treats or meals.

pretty darn swell photo blog

2008-10-28T11:26:00.008-04:00

Sometimes, given the busy pace of life, a lady needs a break. Since I adore food and pretty pictures, I have found a perfect online spot for me to stop, look and refresh my spirit - the swell photo blog, run by Indianapolis' own Stacy & Mary. This dynamic photographic team take pictures of important events and, most important for me, of wonderful food and restaurants, and they feature highlights from their film (or digital files, probably) at their blog.

Check out the shot below of rolls from Naked Tchopstix (a place I like in almost every way).

photo used by permission, copyright Stacy & Mary

There's plenty more, just hop on over to the swell photo blog to see marvelous pictures from R Bistro and The Best Chocolates in Town and Cafe Patachou and Iaria's and Stone Creek. You get the point, right? There's also plenty of happy couples, if you get all doe-eyed or water-works-y about that sort of thing.

breaking in the ebelskiver pan

2008-10-27T21:54:00.007-04:00

You knew it was coming, the logical conclusion to my ebelskiver obsession and the most lovely surprise gift from Holly & Stamatis - on Sunday, I broke in the ebelskiver pan.

I used the recipe that came with the pan (almost just like the ebelskiver recipe on the Williams Sonoma site), halving it because 40 little pockets of filled pancake goodness seemed excessive. 20 is just about right for two people, right? I also tried something that, for some reason, always seemed like too much of a chore - I hand-whipped my egg whites. And it was pretty easy and certainly worth the little effort for the feeling of accomplishment.

look at those hand-whipped egg whites!

For the inaugural ebelskiver pan outing, we used an array of fillings, to try out a variety of options. Among the contenders: preserves of lingonberries and strawberries, bittersweet chocolate, peanut butter, and walnuts mixed with Peachy Keen butter from Country Mouse City Mouse (which, in all honesty, the CMCM crew would not allow me to purchase - so, heads up, that was also a gift, a delicious gift!). We brought out the maple syrup, as well as powdered sugar and lemon wedges for topping the little pockets of breakfast goodness.

each ebelskiver is like a little present for your piehole

The verdict: Ebelskivers are awesome! Despite my fears, the effort did not outweigh the benefits. Flipping the ebelskivers was surprisingly easy. Ben described their crispy exterior and creamy interior as a cross between a donut hole and a pancake. Ebelskivers are buttery and cakey, but not overly sweet, making them ideally suited for the taste-surprise of filling in each pillowy puff.

Planning has begun for this coming weekend's fillings. While the winners from last weekend - lingonberries with powdered sugar and lemon topping for me and the walnut-Peachy Keen butter combo with maple syrup for Ben - were delightful, we're pretty sure that pumpkin and apple fillings will figure predominantly in our next ebelskiver adventure.

creepy packaging highlight

2008-10-23T23:25:00.003-04:00

Bread & Honey, a blog that otherwise has some sassy and fun (and autumnal!) recipes, focused on a special case of, well, frightening food packaging in action.

Check it, a detail from a box of Cascadian Farm organic frozen broccoli:
See the little faces on those florets? This reminds me of my dad trying to convince my sister and me that vegetarianism was a silly choice. His reasoning: (1) alleged "studies" indicating advanced nervous systems - and therefore feelings - in broccoli and (2) Hitler avoided meat.

Really, though, this kind of makes me want to go as broccoli for Halloween.

Ben says, "Who wouldn't put their friends' faces on nationally distributed images of broccoli if given the chance?" Apparently, if he were a dentist, he would also inscribe his initials (BS) into crowns and fillings. That's my guy. (Don't ask him what he would do if he were a plastic surgeon or a tattoo artist. I don't want to know.)

taste's pomme frites

2008-10-21T14:37:00.003-04:00

Question: Who among Indianapolis-dwellers has ordered the pomme frites from Taste Cafe & Marketplace on College Avenue as a side and successfully eaten the whole thing?

picture from the old-school Taste interior, the frites remain unchanged

I routinely get an order to share with lunch companions and, after eating their huge salads, we never get to the bottom of the cup. And then I feel like a jerk, wasting all that good fatty starch.

By the way, if you haven't stopped by the renewed Taste, the dark but dapper interior is quite nice. My lunch mate today remarked that it would make for a good brunch location - you know, easing into the day in a non-bright location after an exciting Friday night.

Locally Grown Gardens blog = fabulousness

2008-10-17T14:21:00.005-04:00

[I am suspending my hunger-awareness campaign for the time being.]

Something very excited has happened to the local food blog world. Locally Grown Gardens, a Middle West Meals favorite, has launched a lovely web presence which seems to be mostly a blog. Among the exciting topics of conversation:

This Saturday's hog roast and salmon grill,
An upcoming class on cooking with real (that is, not canned) pumpkins, and
One of the best Indiana food specialties, persimmon baked goods!

oops - Blog Action Day

2008-10-16T09:29:00.005-04:00

Yesterday was Blog Action Day, and the theme was poverty. Typical of me, I found out about Blog Action Day the day after it happened. Featuring the food access poster on Tuesday was a happy accident. Clearly, food access and poverty are interrelated problems.

Still, I'm a bit sad that no one shared their ideas about fighting hunger [in response to my earlier post]. A quick visit to the World Food Program's interactive hunger map demonstrates the need for addressing this issue. Begging for comments depresses me, but I really want to know:
What are you doing or what do you want to do to fight hunger in your local, state, national or international community?

If you're stymied for ideas, these sites might help:

food access across the world

2008-10-14T09:15:00.004-04:00

Toby Ng's "If the world were a village of 100 people..." poster series has been popping up around the blog world recently. By creating beautiful and graphic interpretations of international statistics, Ng has produced a sometimes startling, sometimes sobering and often beautiful depiction of our world.
The poster that most intrigued me, not surprisingly, focuses on food availability. As we enter a season of so many celebrations, I want to remember to share in the bounty of harvest with as many people as possible. Locally, Second Helpings rescues and reprepares food that would otherwise go to waste, distributes those meals to children and adults and helps unemployed and underemployed people learn the culinary trade.

Internationally, Oxfam does amazing work. World Food Day is October 16 and, like many other organizations, Oxfam has some great ideas to mark the day and increase our awareness of hunger.

Do you have any ideas or tips about decreasing hunger in our world?

the ebelskiver saga continues - pick your filling

2008-10-13T09:30:00.005-04:00

It's as if the world is whispering to me every few hours, "Kirsten, purchase and/or share-purchase an ebelskiver pan." Case in point: Hygge House has this little post, including recommendations from readers about what they would put inside those ebelskivers. The ricotta and pear filling sounds the most tempting this morning, though apple butter would put a lovely mid-western spin on the little pancakes.

Additionally, I found this lovely picture, to your left, by cafemama on flickr.

To add to the shopping temptation, I'd love to know what you would put inside an ebelskiver.

gender, dining and gracious gatherings

2008-10-09T13:29:00.001-04:00

At the Blog Indiana conference, I met Anna Lisa Gross who writes a great blog that examines popular culture through a feminist lens. She recently added another blog to her online roster, Hospitality in the Coming Age, which highlights local and inclusive cooking and sharing. She's exploring one of my favorite topics - ensuring that each person at your table is welcomed and included - and doing a lovely job.

illustration by Tony Cenicola for New York Times

A related topic, gender equity in fine dining, is explored in an interesting piece at the New York Times, Old Gender Roles with Your Dinner?. Beyond dissecting the impact of gender at a smattering of New York restaurants, the article also explores what seem to me to be some outdated notions of allegedly disparate needs and expectations of men and women in restaurants.

I'd love to hear your reactions... When Mario Batali says “Women are looking for somewhere comfortable. Men are looking for somewhere to show off," is he correct? What about the claim that women are scared to eat meat when it sounds like an animal ("suckling pig") but happy to dine on less obvious allusions to the animal of origin (chorizo)?

ridiculously adorable super short stack

2008-10-08T12:27:00.004-04:00

The ebelskiver question remains unanswered for me. But something more ingenious, something teeny tiny (see my miniature obsession all over Middle West Meals - mail-order style, cake style, cupcake style...) and something which requires no special equipment caught my eye over at the always awesome Party Perfect: this tiny short stack of pancakes, the ideal brunch party appetizer, from gastrokid.

I've added this little idea to my must-do list!

Ebelskiver Pan - Will this enhance my life?

2008-10-07T09:18:00.004-04:00

Ladies and Gentlemen, I have a question for you. A critical question in which you must weigh the relative merits of (a) a clutter-free life and a healthy checkbook against the merits of (b) lovely Sunday mornings spent eating adorable little pancakes filled with preserves.

Despite repeated efforts to eliminate all kitchenware catalogs from my mailbox and product alerts from my email inbox, sometimes a very appealing single-use kitchen item enthralls me to the degree that I mention it weekly to someone - usually Ben - and begin to dream of the improved life that this single-use item will bring me. Never mind that it will cause clutter. Never mind that it probably costs a bit much for a single-use item. Never mind that I already have cupboards full of cooking implements.

That's an ebelskiver pan, the item I've been obsessing about for roughly one and one-half years. According to Williams-Sonoma, the pan has been improved. Thanks, W-S, for spurring on my deep interest in making tiny pancakes filled with jam for lazy Sunday morning. Thanks a lot. Images of Ben and I, knee-deep in the Sunday New York Times and listening to really good music while munching on ebelskivers, fill my head.

I must resist. Right? Or do you think this ebelskiver pan will enhance my life?

spicy pepita-ginger chocolate bark

2008-10-06T11:47:00.003-04:00

At this month's first Friday gathering, we kept things low key with grilled hot dogs (beefy and vegan-y), tons of condiments, mulled cider and autumnal beer, a salad, a slaw, some vegan pumpkin cookies that are almost as good as my grandma's recipe and - the big hit of the evening - spicy pepita-ginger chocolate bark. So many people commented on the bark that, after getting a surprise invitation to an amazing dinner party, I whipped some up to bring as a host & hostess gift.

Recipe: Spicy Pepita-Ginger Chocolate Bark
(inspired by this recipe at Chow)
serves plenty for a little dish at a party

Ingredients
2 ounces unsweetened chocolate (cut into chunks)
7 ounces semi-sweet chocolate (chips or broken up)
1/6 cup chopped crystallized ginger
olive oil
1/2 cup raw green pumpkin seeds
1/4 teaspoon cayenne - or more if you like it really spicy
1/2 teaspoon cinnamon
salt

Directions
Set up a sheet of parchment paper on a large baking sheet. Set aside.

Combine the chocolate in a small saucepan. Over low heat, stir until it melts and is smooth. If you're worried about burning the chocolate, using a double-boiler is a safer method.

Heat a tiny drizzle of olive oil in a pan over medium-high heat, adding the pumpkin seeds once the pan is hot. Cook, stirring often, until some of the seeds begin to toast. Add the cayenne, cinnamon and a sprinkle of salt.

Add the ginger and two-thirds of the pumpkin seeds to the chocolate, stirring until well combined. Spread the mixture on the parchment into a rectangle that is about 14 by 11 inches. Quickly add the last third of the pumpkin seeds to the top of the chocolate. Allow to cool for several hours and break into chunks.