Falling for Cocktails
Now that I’ve drained the summer bar of its white rum and tequila, it’s time to start stocking up for fall.
What can I say, I’m a creature of habit. But sometimes I also like to mix it up. Last year I wrote about the seasonal transition of the liquor cabinet, and looking back there are definite similarities. But there is one major change and a minor adjustment.
The biggest change is driven by both market conditions and finding two great tastes that taste great together.
Brown Rice Frown
That clunking noise you hear? That’s my head banging against the ground.
I don’t think I can take any more of this. Despair isn’t the right word. It’s more like frustration. But I’m also exasperated.
You know how the environmentalists were saying that if we didn’t take care of the Earth, we wouldn’t have clean water to drink or food to eat? And everyone thought they were crazy. Well, it looks like they were right.
A while back we learned about lead in things like grape juice. And the question comes up, what’s a heavy metal doing in the vineyards? The answer is found in the ghosts of our past. Lead-based pesticides that were applied to the fields are persistent and can remain in the soil even today. Plus there was all that exhaust from cars running on leaded gasoline that settled on nearby farmland.
The newest finding: inorganic arsenic in rice. In case you are wondering, that’s the bad kind.
Avast Ye Scurvy Dogs
Arr, mateys.
Got a whale of a tale to tell you lad, a whale of a tale or two. ‘Bout the flappin’ fish and the girls I loved, on nights like this with the moon above. A whale of a tale and it’s all true, I swear by my tattoo.
That last bit is the chorus to the one sea shanty I know. I think it came from some deep track of a Disney LP. ADS and I were going to mesmerize tourists at Fisherman’s Wharf in San Francisco with our rhyming acumen, by making up verses of that song based on a little bit of personal information.
But it turns out mastering that scheme was harder than finding a job in advertising.
If you haven’t guessed by now, it’s Talk Like a Pirate Day! And I may have gotten all the pirate out of me. Yet I wanted to try and tie into the theme of the day, especially since there is such real-life high drama on the seas this week. Apparently both in Asia and the Middle East. Good times. The closest food-related thing I could think of that wasn’t about bumbo or rum had to do with scurvy dogs.
No Champagne or Fireworks
Happy New Year! Tonight, for those who don’t know, is the beginning of Rosh Hashana, which is also known as the Jewish New Year. We’re actually in the busy season right now of Judaism.
At sundown we celebrate. At the Fussy household, we’ll bring in this holiday much like all of the others. With a bottle of wine, a Hannaford chicken, a seasonal vegetable from the CSA and challah from the New Mount Pleasant Bakery in Schenectady, which makes the best challah in the region by far. In the hope of a sweet new year, we will also have some of Lloyd’s honey on the table in addition to some crisp local apples from Columbia County’s newest crop.
Next week we fast. Tonight is a lot more fun. But tomorrow I get to spend a lot of the day in temple. For you that means there will likely not be a fresh post on Monday. Sorry about that.
As long as we are on the subject of being apologetic…
Wine Education
Does anyone here remember when I used to fastidiously write about wine once a week?
I love wine. I love demystifying wine. And for a spell, I loved writing about wine. The double edged sword of writing a blog is that you get instant feedback from your readers. A notable absence of feedback sends a clear message as well. Especially if there is a consistent pattern over a period of time.
The message I was getting loud and clear was that precious few of you cared to read about wine. At the beginning I was writing all those posts for my friend Jess. And she left for the California coast, where she’s able to get cheap bottles of decent wine from Trader Joe’s and even Whole Foods.
For better or worse, Albany seems to be more of a beer town, and I’m coming to terms with that. Plus, I am not immune to my surroundings. Wine is less a part of my everyday enjoyment of food and life. These days, more often than not it will be a bottle of beer that I open with dinner instead of a bottle of wine. So be it.
But last weekend I was really excited to participate in two structured wine seminars at the Saratoga Wine & Food and Fall Ferrari Festival. And dammit, today I’m going to tell you about them. If enough of you click through, I may even feel compelled to write another wine post or two before the year comes to an end.
Tour de Donut: Saratoga Edition
Upstate New York may not have a lot of Michelin starred restaurants, but we have a ton of apples. We live in the heart of apple country, and in the fall it’s an amazing place to be. There are orchards and country stores everywhere throughout the region, and most of them sell apple cider donuts.
These are a quintessential treat of fall. The only problem is that people are rarely exposed to a wide variety of these seasonal delights. And that’s fine. Family traditions are important and meaningful things, so I’m not going to try and change your rituals of the season.
However, there are some regional food lovers out there who are really curious to know which orchard, or bakery, or farm stand makes the best apple cider donut. And to answer that question, the Fussy Little Tours were born two years ago. Since then, I have led intrepid groups of eaters around the region in search of other tasty treasures.
But now fall is upon us yet again, so it’s time to circle the wagons and head north. Because I understand there are some mighty tasty specimens to be sampled on the far side of the Mohawk river. Today I have the details of the tour.
AskTP – Bacon, Cheese, Donuts and Stuff
Wow, there were a lot of comments over the past two weeks. Never underestimate the power of bacon. Or cheese. Or donuts. Or free stuff.
In some of those comments were questions. A few of those questions got answered. The questions that have been unanswered will finally get their response today in a forum I call Ask the Profussor. For those who may have joined recently, Profussor is an honorific I created to refer to myself, because Mr. Fussy is the intellectual property of the publishers of the Mr. Men series.
Thankfully they didn’t trademark Mrs. Fussy.
Anyhow, I’ve committed to answering all your questions. Just so long as a question mark follows the query it will not fall through the cracks. It may take a long time to be answered. You may not like the answer you get. I won’t even vouch for the accuracy of the response. But in due time it will get a response.
In this installment of AskTP we begin and end with addiesdad.
Lucky
Every day I get to sit down at my computer and write about food. I don’t have to worry about where I’m going to get my next meal. I don’t have to wonder if my children are safe. And if there is ever some kind of crisis, most of my family is within a day’s drive.
I am very lucky.
Today I am even more keenly aware of that than usual. Really on most days I forget, as those facts kind of disappear into the folds of the fabric of everyday life. But on some days it’s important to remember. Eleven years ago a friend of mine was lucky that he caught a late subway into the city. Another friend was lucky that she decided to sleep in. But a colleague of mine boarded United Flight 93 from Newark bound for San Francisco.
Tomorrow will be another Ask the Profussor. On Thursday I’m going to share the details of the Tour de Cider Donut. Friday will contain some learnings from the Saratoga Wine & Food Festival. But today I’m going to give in to a little bit of self reflection, and count my blessings.
Lucky for you, the ones that follow all involve food.
Excuses
Today’s post was supposed to be about the Saratoga Wine & Food and Fall Ferrari Festival. There will be lots of posts coming on that topic, but let’s just say that last night got away from me.
I think all things considered, I’ve been pretty good at time management overall. This is one of the rare times where I’ve fallen down. And part of the problem is the new schedule with the kids in school. I am still not used to the rhythm of the routine.
So instead of the planned awesome post, I’m going to give you a much lamer one full of excuses. But it will also be full of content, and a rare look into a day in the life of The Profussor.
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