Speakeasy Speak
After our trip down to Philly and our stop at Franklin Mortgage and Investment Co, we were inspired. Not only because the cocktails completely intoxicated us but because we love the history of it all, the period of Prohibition, Speakeasies, special cocktails. So we did some research and came up with this gift idea, Honeyed-Ginger Syrup and Candied Ginger to mix and garnish cocktails hidden away inside a book. I (Caroline, that is) am a firm believer in presentation, so when giving a homemade gift like honeyed-ginger syrup and candied ginger is fun in itself but how much more fun is it to get it in great packaging?
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Special Guest Food Adventure: Joel Speasmaker at Good Fork
By now, you all know our honorary NumNum’er Joel Speasmaker of Forest Design. He has been on many of our food adventures in addition to taste testing several of our at home eats. So it was only fitting that we ask Joel to his own food adventure, and he chose The Good Fork in Red Hook, Brooklyn. We took Bryn along for the ride, being that its one of her favorite restaurants.
The Good Fork serves high quality, seasonal foods without the snooty attitude. Its actually all about comfort, from the staff, to the atmosphere, and most importantly, to the food.
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Book Nook: Kim Severson’s Spoon Fed
The only thing I love more than making and/or eating food is reading about it, and luckily, there is plenty of well-written material out there to satiate my mind’s appetite. It seems like everyone and her mother has penned a food memoir, and I will happily read every one, though some are obviously better than others (Orangette’s A Homemade Life is one of my recent faves and right now I’m plowing through Ruth Reichl’s Comfort Me With Apples). Kim Severson’s Spoon Fed, however, takes the food memoir down a different route. Yes, it’s still about The New York Times’ food writer’s life and how food played a part in it, but it’s just as much about the eight women who have made a huge impression on her, in life as well as in the kitchen. She takes you into Marion Cunningham’s home, out to lunch with Ruth Reichl, and to the Farmer’s Market with Alice Waters. She writes about becoming friends with Rachael Ray, breaking into New York’s food scene, and visiting a well-known New Orleans restaurant post-Katrina, all while navigating her family, her love life, and her alcoholism (the book’s subhead is How Eight Cooks Saved My Life and she means it literally). Of course it’s stacked with a few recipes as well (I reeeeally want to make the Meyer Lemon Meringue Pie with Marion Cunningham’s No Fear Pie Crust), but it’s Severson’s honest, straightforward writing style that’s the real draw, particularly her insider’s peek into the lives of these culinary icons. There’s no food snobbery here (she quotes James Beard early on: “A hot dog or a truffle. Good is good.”), just inspiring women leading interesting (and delicious!) lives.
nacho, nacho man
Seeing as we’re from California and have an innate love of Mexican food, when we found out about NachosNY, a site dedicated to the quest for the best in our very own NYC, well, we knew we’d stumbled across some kindred spirits. So we joined forces with Lee and Rachel, the team behind NachosNY, and hit up Elote in Williamsburg, to see how their ‘chos fared. Bottom line? They sure are pretty but we’ve had better (cough, Nachos Chulos! cough, cough). The experts agreed. The best part of the dish was probably the guac. And speaking of guac, NachosNY is the mastermind behind this Wednesday’s GUACTACULAR at the Bell House!!! A tastier “cook-off” has never existed and the fact that we’re lucky enough to judge all the entries will probably make this the best Cinco de Mayo ever. Hope you locals got your tix cause the party’s sold out! But back to Elote. The other items on the menu were pretty damn good. Their namesake corn is a must and the ceviche was fresh and tart and tasty. Did we mention the pitchers of margaritas? Two thumbs up. Pair that with their patio and it’s the perfect summer hangout.
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