AskTP – Rock the Vote
Well it’s the day after. Unless the results were contested, Barack Obama won the national election. Now we can move past the horserace and get onto the serious work at hand.
Today, that’s answering reader questions.
Yes, it’s yet another installment of Ask the Profussor. I have committed to answering every question that’s asked in the comments, just so long as it’s asked with proper punctuation. Whether or not it’s the answer you want is another matter entirely.
I hope you voted yesterday. Speaking of voting, please make sure to check out the mystery link of the day. But without any further ado, onto the questions.
Project Penzeys
Sometimes you hear rumors and have no idea of knowing whether or not they are true. I can’t even remember where I heard this or from whom, but it came across my radar over the past several weeks, and it’s been bothering me.
The gist of the rumor was that the new Penzey’s at Crossgates isn’t getting the kind of traffic and sales they had projected.
Now if that’s true, this fantastic store is in trouble. And if that is indeed the case, I would want to do everything in my limited power to help them out. So I had an idea, and the best part about the idea is that even if the rumor is not true, this scheme will still make you a better cook. Plus, I think my old friend Raf would totally approve.
I’m going to do it, and I hope you’ll join me too.
SOS Giveaway: A Pack of Cards
Children’s fundraisers usually drive me crazy. No, I don’t want a magazine subscription. I don’t want any crappy candy bars or industrially produced cookies full of junk. And the last thing I want is one of those unwieldy “Entertainment Books” full of coupons that I’ll never use.
Well, there’s a new coupon scheme that is hitting the ground in the Capital Region and it’s far less onerous than its predecessors. And the good people from City Dining Cards have been kind enough to supply two decks of their cards. One for me and one for one of you.
Now I know what you are thinking. How can we even trust you to send out the cards when Sabre still hasn’t received her bacon soap? Well, I’m wracked with guilt about that every day. But her bacon soap is safe. I just need to find a box so I can get it in the mail. Dammit, I’ve been busy. Anyway, these cards are small and can just slip into an envelope.
Did I mention they could also save you over $500 at local restaurants?
New Treats at TC Bakery
It wasn’t that long that I wrote about the French macarons at TC Bakery on Colvin Street in Albany for All Over Albany. While it’s run by a team of friends who all share a common bond for their love of really great food, my schedule keeps on putting me in contact with Chef Paul.
He recently got back in touch with me to let me know that he and the team at the bakery had been working up some new recipes. And he wanted to invite me into the kitchen to taste their expanded line.
So late last week Albany Jane and I went back to this gem of a patisserie that’s hiding in plain sight inside the Chocolate Gecko. The good news is that they have some more signage. But there are still folks who don’t know they exist. I’m hoping you can help me spread the word. Because this isn’t the kind of thing we should be keeping a secret.
Especially after you hear this.
Nominations for Mozzarella and Melba
As a kid I grew up in Brooklyn Heights. And you know what? I really could not tell you anything about the regional food of the borough, based on my childhood. Today, I could discuss the Brooklyn style of egg cream and the brilliant pizza shops that reside there.
Which makes it very possible that someone could have grown up in the Capital Region and not had any idea that mozzarella sticks with raspberry (aka Melba) sauce are a specialty of the region.
Sometimes it takes an interloper. Someone who has been around to come into an area and realize something is done differently here than it is everywhere else. Although there are some locals who appreciate these things too. Mr. Dave takes significant pride in the regional foods of his homeland. And I too want to celebrate these ever rarer regional variations in food culture, and in many ways that is what the Fussy Little Tours are intended to do.
Although these usually come with reactions of horror and disgust from Mr. Dave as I venture forth to pick apart and examine his beloved foodstuffs.
But I haven’t let that stop me in the past. And it’s not going to stop me now. Because today I am officially opening up nominations for the Tour de Mozzarella and Melba.
Candy Eaters
Yeah. It’s Halloween. Again.
I’m not so happy about it. I’d rather be telling you what’s going on at TC Bakery on Colvin Street in Albany. But much like yesterday’s preempted story about the next Fussy Little Tour, that too is going to have to wait as a result of the events of the day.
Last year I wrote about being the Grinch of Halloween. When my kids were smaller I could get away with avoiding the holiday completely. But luckily for the little ones Mrs. Fussy has picked up the baton and actually made them their dream costumes. He’s a robot. She’s a robot princess, naturally.
So begrudgingly, holding out for as long as possible in the hopes that Halloween would be washed away by some slow-moving tropical storm, yesterday I finally bought candy. Three bags even. He chose Kit Kat, she wanted Dum Dums, and I got a mega bag of my favorite Twix.
Now even though I don’t have a sweet tooth, I’m going to rattle on about candy, and how it’s completely meaningless in modern life.
Mr. Dave & The Fear of Death
As I was writing this piece last night I was transfixed by Twitter, watching news reports come in all throughout lower Manhattan. Seriously, I don’t want to hear one person upstate complain that this storm was a real snooze. It felt shitty when people downstate said that about Irene.
The damage to NYC is intense. The emergency power failing at hospitals combined with the dedication of first responders is both tragic and inspiring. But New Jersey has also been hard hit. And I’m sure Connecticut and Pennsylvania aren’t going to be pretty either.
I have a sinking feeling that as dawn breaks the full scope of Sandy’s impact is going to be even worse than most people imagined.
So it didn’t feel quite right to take nominations for the upcoming Tour de Mozzarella and Raspberry Sauce. Instead it seemed more appropriate to ruminate on something that kept appearing in last night’s tweet stream that reminded me of something that Mr. Dave said recently.
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