Photo Friday: Leaving the Farm
It’s amazing how little I’ve been mentioning the farm this week. I think I can feel the heart disease and diabetes setting in. Seriously, I’ve been eating like a jerk. And even so, we’ve barely made a dent on our supplies. Plus I’ve stocked up on some locally made pepperoni sticks for Albany Jane.
Words might even do more justice to these comestibles than the pictures themselves. And some things have been so good that I’ve forgotten to take a picture of them (out of sheer enthusiasm to get them in my mouth). The scrapple fried in butter was a great recent example.
So anyway, I’ve got to enjoy my last full day in PA. With luck I’ll make it to The Cow for my requisite ice cream soda, made with chocolate soda and vanilla soft serve. Dinner tonight will be local beef hamburgers, locally made hot dogs, and the rest of the meats in the fridge.
There have also been a lot of beers, and that’s inspired me to take up an Untappd account to help keep track of them all. But I’m not taking pictures of beers. Below are the things that I am documenting. Read more…
AskTP – Jump Over June
Anyone out there still remember Ask the Profussor? It’s been so long since I’ve fulfilled my commitment to answer reader questions asked within the comments section of this blog that I can’t blame anyone for forgetting.
Fortunately, the flow of questions has been modest, so I should be able to tackle them all here. For the record, if you want an answer from me, you don’t have to say (parenthetically or otherwise) “This is a question.”
Periodically, I scan all the comments on the blog for question marks. When I see one, I’ll check if the question has been answered. Nobody likes unresolved issues. So here is my attempt at providing a little bit of closure. And as usual, I’ll try to make it as fun as I can, including a special mystery link of the day.
The Posts That Never Made It
It’s fair to say that I think about food more than your average bear. Perhaps it’s no accident that when I was a kid, one of my favorite cartoon characters was the food-obsessed Yogi Bear.
So I’ve got this blog. And it’s a great vehicle for getting all of these thoughts out of my head. But I only write one post a day, usually late in the evening when the world is quiet. That means sometimes when I’ve got a notion about food that starts rattling around in my brain during the day, I have to write it down and put it aside to write about later.
These days, when the inspiration strikes, I’ll ask Siri to take a note. But all of these ideas find their way into a large Google doc I’ve been maintaining for years. Now, it’s become impossibly long. Many of these stories are either stale or I’ve just lost interest in writing them. And I have to face the fact that they’ll never be converted into a post.
However, I can’t bear to simply delete them. Instead, I’m going to share them with you. Hopefully this will be more interesting than it sounds.
Hannaford Sold
Sometimes we talk about the origins of our food. And sometimes we get all skittish about learning things about the foreign nations involved in our supply chains.
The Trader Joe’s Fearless Flyer alerted me to the fact that a crap-ton of salmon is frozen twice. The first time is at sea, on the boat upon which it is caught. But then the frozen fish is shipped to China, where it is defrosted, scaled, boned, and portioned before being refrozen for transport to grocery stores in the US and elsewhere.
And other times we talk about consolidation in the food business. For me, it’s been extremely painful to watch cherished natural foods brands be snatched up by large industrial food companies which use a portion of their profits to combat labeling of GMOs.
But did you know that there is both massive foreign involvement and consolidation in the grocery store business, too?
The Driving Force of Summer
The fried chicken of Montauk may be off the menu for this summer. It’s still too early to tell. But my cousin who I usually see out on the eastern part of Long Island made the trip early this year, and I missed my window to see him in East Hampton.
That’s not to say I can’t drive out to see the rest of my family there later this summer. But man, the calendar is getting packed.
I’m very lucky that so much of my family lives within driving distance. That makes the summer the season of the car. And we’re planning to put it to good use. Starting with three back-to-back-to-back trips. Of course, two of those are day trips, but it’s still a notable amount of time behind the wheel.
It all began yesterday.
The Chronic Sonic
Yesterday I bought three copies of the Albany Times Union at my local Stewart’s. It seems like I’ve been in the paper a bunch lately. Last month it was for the blog. Yesterday it was for Yelp. That’s just crazy.
This Yelp gig, much like the All Over Albany one before it, has really helped to shape the way I think about what’s going on in the world of food throughout the Capital Region. When I arrived here over eight years ago, I was focused on the area’s lapses and failings. The AOA work required me to actively find good things. And as a Yelp Community Ambassador, I find myself actively looking for the good in a place.
It’s been so long since I’ve eaten at a Sonic Drive-In, I honestly can’t even remember if I had positive associations with the chain or not. The first Sonic opened up in the Capital Region this week, and the cover story on yesterday’s Times Union was an irate opinion piece by Chris Churchill. This was A1, above the fold, and it begins, “It’s happening once again. The opening of a national chain is causing the good people of the Capital Region to act like a bunch of yokels.”
Honestly, the old me would have loved a story like this. And part of me still does. But writing this blog over the years has taught me a thing or two about the nature of our culinary scene. And I have to say, I may see things a little bit differently than Mr. Churchill.
How to Make a Blueberry
This week at Indian Ladder Farms, they were expecting to begin blueberry picking season. That means you can go to the farm and start picking fresh berries from the bush. Or maybe you’ve got your own plants in the garden, which would mean the distance between you and fresh berries bursting with flavor from the sun and earth, is much much shorter.
I love blueberries. But we don’t have a blueberry bush. And while the farm isn’t too far to drive, it’s a bit out of the way.
Luckily, I just learned how to make your very own blueberries at home with ingredients you may already have around the house. No kidding.
Troubling Demographics
Albany is an old town. That’s not a bad thing. In fact, it’s kind of awesome. Old towns have character. Old towns have souls. Newer places may be shiny and attractive, but their appeal rarely goes beyond the superficial.
We’ve got history here. And one of these days, more people will realize that it’s our history that makes us special, and not the possibility of a convention center, an aquarium, or a monorail.
Which isn’t to say one has to live in the past. Change is the natural state of affairs in the universe, and it’s thrilling to see some positive changes in the Capital Region. Especially in a place that has historically seemed to resist change, and where change has come slowly.
But the change that’s bringing some great new stuff to the area may ultimately come at a cost.
Showing Off the Capital Region
It’s great to have guests. Sure, there are some segments of the Capital Region dining scene that can be really frustrating, but the things we do well are pretty darn impressive.
As I mentioned yesterday, Dr. B and his family are visiting from California. And while he may not live in SF proper, great food is just an arm’s length away at almost all times. I just think of all those beautiful tacos, tortas, and tamales, and I start to weep.
There are some challenges when another whole family comes out to visit. Now, instead of being a party of four, we’re a party of eight. And a bunch of us are very small humans. Some of us are so small that table manners are a concept as incomprehensible as the Fibonacci numbers.
But I can work with that. It just requires a slightly modified local tour.
The Madness of Summer
Man, it would be nice to have a summer break. I say that, but in actuality, my whole life is like a break. Really, I’m a very lucky fellow.
Summer in the Capital Region is just chock-a-block filled with things to do. And it’s impossible to do all the things, regardless of how much you want to do all the things. I’m just going to run you through my weekend real quick, just to give you a taste of what went down.
I wish I could spend the time going through each item, but then this post would be silly long. Perhaps if anyone actually wants to hear more on one of the topics mentioned, I can try to find a way to expand upon it later this week. But it all started innocently enough on Friday doing what I always do, hunting for my weekly challah and roast chicken.
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