Standing Orders
Sometimes I forget that Sundays are going to be about breakfast. You know, like last Sunday when I wrote about wine again in this post about what might be the best box-wine available in the U.S.
Old habits are hard to break.
Speaking of old habits, when I go out for breakfast, I usually don’t have to look at the menu. Okay, if I’m in some kind of fancy spot that is doing something unusual with breakfast, I’ll pore over the menu. But at diners I now know what I want: eggs, potatoes, toast and coffee. If I’m in Pennsylvania I might get some scrapple, or some Taylor ham in New Jersey. There’s one local place where I’m compelled to get the sausage.
In my book, breakfast meat isn’t mandatory. And really, my decisions surrounding what to order for breakfast could be turned into a book. I’ll spare you the details, and instead give you the highlights.
The Other Great Thing at Golden Harvest
If you aren’t observing Yom Kippur on Saturday, this weekend looks like it will be beautiful for heading out to one of the many local apple orchards. Maybe you will hit up last year’s Tour de Donut champ, Indian Ladder Farms for their deeply crusty version of the form.
But as we discovered last weekend, east of the Hudson River, Golden Harvest Farms is the untouchable cider donut champ.
Now cider donuts are great and all. However, Golden Harvest has something else that really sets them apart from every other orchard in the region. And that’s their distillery, Harvest Spirits. I’ve been a longtime fan of their work, but it has been many months since my last visit (and even longer since my last post on the distillery). After the Tour de Donut I stopped back in and caught up with Derek and Collin, and they have a bunch of new things I’m quite excited about.
Greasy Fingers Smearing Shabby Clothes
Any Jethro Tull fans out there?
Earlier this week I was chatting with Amanda Talar and Alan Ilagan on Twitter. Recently I’ve been helping the two of them eat better by insisting that Amanda not cook eggs in the microwave and that Alan eschew bagel sandwiches.
While celebrating a small victory in getting Amanda to put down the egg and step away from the microwave, I went a step further in trying to get that infernal contraption out of her life. My hashtag had some immediate repercussions.
Anyhow I promised to help the two of them come up with non-lethal alternatives to microwave popcorn (which apparently is one of Alan’s four major food groups). So why did that make me think of Aqualung?
Ask the Profussor – Falling Down
It’s time for another mega marathon session of Ask the Profussor. Once again I have pushed off the task of answering your questions until the pile of queries has become impossibly large.
The past few weeks have been madness. If you haven’t heard, I’m judging All Over Albany’s Tournament of Pizza for the third year in a row, and am thrilled to be a part of the judging panel. There was also the opening of the new ShopRite in Niskayuna which I covered for AOA in addition to my most recent (and unexpected) Eat This!
Still, I’m committed to making sure everyone gets the answers they seek. Just remember if you want ensure a response, your comment must contain a question mark.
Okay. Here we go.
The Best Cider Donut East of the Hudson
Saturday started off as a cold, wet and dreary day. There was a good chance it would rain for the entire second annual Tour de Donut. But this event was happening rain or shine.
Twenty-three people said they would come with me to five of the best apple cider donut makers east of the Hudson River in an effort to determine who makes the best specimen of the lot. Despite the rain, twenty-two showed up. In the end, I walked away with a belly full of donuts and seventeen completed scoresheets.
Last year there were only six.
But last year it was a very close call between two beloved local institutions, and Indian Ladder Farm beat out Altamont Orchard by a hair. This year it was a blowout. One place dominated the competition.
Before I tell you which place bowled over these intrepid tasters, let me back up for a second and tell you a bit about the judging, and remind you about the places we visited.
Tour Central
The Second Annual Tour de Donut was a great success. I expect to have the official results published tomorrow. Thanks again to everyone who came out early on a cold and wet Saturday morning to join me on this quixotic adventure.
Yet again, we proved that not only are all cider donuts not created equal, but there are significant and very noticeable differences among them.
Now the only question is, what next?
Well, I have some ideas, but I’m also open to suggestions. In just a moment I’ll share with you what I’m thinking and what kinds of foodstuffs qualify for the full tour treatment. And maybe you can convince me to take up your cause.
Wine Magazine
Perhaps magazine is the wrong term, as I don’t know much about guns. But I’m the proud new owner of a reclaimed Army ammunition box. And, it’s full of wine.
For those who have never seen one, an ammunition box is a pretty sturdy piece of hardware. My guess is that it’s designed to contain an explosion should some faulty bullets inside decide to go boom. Or maybe it’s intended to be tough in order to keep bad things out. But this solid metal box with its heavy-duty clasp and convenient carrying handle makes for the best wine box I’ve ever seen.
Yep. Wine box. As in wine-in-a-box wine box.
Some mad genius over at an outfit called The 20 Wines cut a round hole in the end to hold a spout and spray-painted the side with a stencil that reads, “Make Wine – Not War.” Then they rechristened it as a “Chiller Cask.” What sort of wine does one put inside an ammunition box? Well, I’m glad you asked.
Happy New Year
It’s Rosh Hashanah. And thanks to the miracle of scheduled postings, you will see this on one of the three high holy days where I’m supposed to do no work whatsoever. However, since I only really celebrate two of them, and even then will drive almost thirty minutes each way to temple, you can probably guess I adopt a pretty liberal interpretation of the word “work.”
Still, I’m going to respect the spirit of the holiday. So I’m going to do something a little bit different.
Grapes and Hops
It looks like I’ve discovered the trick to writing about wine: make it seem like I’m writing about beer. At the risk of alienating those who claim they don’t care about alcohol-related topics, I’m going to write a second post in a row on the subject.
Really there are two reasons for this:
1) Based on yesterday’s comments, I wanted to clarify a few points
2) I hope to get plenty of traffic from AOA should they promote my Tour de Donut later today
But maybe lots of people will be interested to hear my further explanation of why hops are like grapes. Despite the opposition of a few local beer experts, I’m sticking to my story. Now please remember, the goal here isn’t to proclaim the supriority of wine over beer or vice versa. I’m attempting to find common ground. Because if people find beer to be relatively accessible, and if beer and wine are relatively similar, then people should find wine to be relatively accessible.
Ultimately my goal is to make wine more accessible, and expand people’s palates and minds. Beer is my weapon, and it’s loaded with hops.
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