AskTP – The Rest After Labor Day
Yesterday was Labor Day and I took the chance to catch up on months and months of reader questions that have been sitting in the comments section of the blog unanswered. But there were so many questions that have piled up over the past nine months that they had to be split up into two posts.
This is what happens when you make a commitment to answer all questions that are submitted to your blog, and then get distracted by other things.
As it turns out, I love answering reader questions, so please keep them coming. Just make sure to use proper punctuation if you want to receive an answer. Much like the questions below, the answer may not come quickly, but it will come.
And don’t forget to check out the mystery link of the day. All of the links that precede the questions below point back to the same spot. Why? Well, because I thought these posts worked better that way. For those who are truly eager to find the question on the FLB and see it in its original context, Google works really well.
Now, without further ado, onto the questions.
AskTP – Nine Months of Avoiding Labor
Hey, it’s Labor Day. Guess what it has taken me nine months to do?
If you guessed, “Answer each and every reader question which has fallen through the cracks” you are totally right. When I first started this blog, I committed myself to answering every question that was asked in the comments section.
There was one rule. The question had to use proper punctuation. Thankfully, there was never a stipulation that the question would be answered in any kind of timely way. Or that the reader would receive a satisfactory answer.
No. Merely the commitment was that the question would be answered. Still, as modest of a commitment that may have been, once again I have been derelict of my duties. What better day than Labor Day to catch up on the work I’ve been letting slide.
We’ve got to go back a long long way. And as always, the introductions to each and every question link to the mystery link of the of day. Now, without any further ado, onto the questions.
The New Kitchen Project
There isn’t much in this world that I actually want. That’s a good thing.
I’m happy with what I’ve got. In fact, our family probably has too much. Especially when it comes to kitchen gear. Which isn’t to say we have everything. We don’t. There are quite a lot of gadgets I might enjoy. But when taking a cold hard eye to how much I would use them in everyday life, they neither justify the expense or the space they would take up in our kitchen.
A great example is one of those super high speed and high power blenders. Those are sexy AF. However, I’m unthrilled that they only come with plastic mixing containers. I want glass or stainless steel, because I hate plastic in my kitchen. And while I dream of crushing ice like a champ, how many times would I make brambles over the course of a summer. Twice? Maybe.
I think I would be better off with a heavy wood mallet and a sturdy canvas bag. Actually, I have my eye on a set of those items. However, there isn’t a place in our kitchen to store more accessories. Our drawers and utensil caddies are overflowing.
Which brings us to the new kitchen project.
Schenectady’s Solid Soft Serve
When scheduling the Tour de Soft Serve 4.0 for the end of August, I thought there might be a chill in the air. Another concern was that while the event would certainly be educational for those who attended the tour, any learnings would fall on deaf ears. Right now people are getting excited for apple picking and pumpkin spiced lattes. I’ve seen displays for Halloween.
But here we are. Late August and it feels like we’re in the peak of summer. It’s time to eat outdoors, in the shade, and treat yourself to some soft serve once the sun finally sets. At least now that’s a little bit earlier than before. It’s late summer’s ultimate tell.
So how did this all break down? Last Saturday, eleven brave souls set out for Schenectady. There they sampled five different soft serve places, looking for the very best. And while there was one which stood above the rest, all of these establishments had something to love.
Aioli A-Hole
Words. Words matter.
Perhaps it wasn’t my finest moment of blogging, but once upon a time I used to stand up to defend food words from attack. Ice cream is ice cream dammit. If it’s made without cream, guess what? It’s not ice cream. Period.
I’ve staked positions on pesto, the Manhattan, and Greek-style yogurt. At one point I even went to war about the presence of shredded lettuce on an authentic Mexican street taco.
Albany is a small town, and many of us run in similar Facebook circles. So if you live around here, you may have picked up on the heat about a vegan spot being declared to have some of the best wings in the Capital Region. By the way, a hearty congratulations to Berben & Wolff’s for the accomplishment.
That’s rubbed some people the wrong way. But when a culture allows something called boneless wings—which are made out of breaded breast meat pieces—to prosper, the very notion of “wings” is crippled. This has been going on for a very long time. Trying to dial it back now seems futile at best.
We can mourn the passing of the wing, but there’s another victim of misuse I’d rather talk about today which dates back even further. And that’s aioli dammit.
The Wonder of Wegmans
It’s been a busy weekend. Friday I supped on steak and sipped Champagne at the 20th Annual Travers Wine Tasting. Saturday, I skipped out on the Travers to eat soft serve in Schenectady. And on Sunday I took a day trip down to Pennsylvania.
The tale of the soft serve is coming. But you can check some of the other regional food blogs, instagram feeds, and local Facebook profiles for some early insights. The turnout was better than I had expected.
Today, I wanted to share a quick bit about my brief time at Wegmans. Mostly because there are some people who just don’t get what makes the place so special. My take on it is not an exhaustive list of every little thing. Because there are just a lot of small details Wegmans gets right.
Instead, I’m going to share a story about a crazy shopper with impossible demands.
Speaking of Bingeing
Tomorrow is the Tour de Soft Serve! Despite it looking like a perfect day to traipse around Schenectady eating soft serve, right now this is looking like one of the most sparsely attended tours yet!
But that’s okay. Even if nobody showed up, I would still do them. These tours are about satisfying a deep curiosity, and having an excuse to visit some classic spots that I’ve always wanted to try.
Sometimes you’ve just got to throw caution to the wind, and eat something ridiculous.
Which just so happens to be a great segue into the subject at hand. Because yesterday on Twitter, I found something too hard to ignore. Maybe you happened to stumble upon it too. I’m talking about New York’s own pizza burrito. Or pizzarito as the kids are calling it.
Fussy’s Future Food Fun
When summer comes to an end, it ushers in two periods of frenzy.
The first involves trying to squeeze as much into the remaining weeks of summer as possible. The second has to do with scheduling events now that school is starting and family trips are moving to the back burner.
For some reason, I find it very hard to say no to interesting opportunities. And as I look out over the next several weeks, I wonder when I’ll get a chance to sleep. Somehow, amidst all of this, I’ll find a way to stay on a healthier trajectory of both eating and exercising in moderation.
You may want to grab your calendar, because some of these events might be off your radar.
The End of Summer Ice Cream Binge
Before leaving for Philadelphia, I had started eating a bit healthier. One of the key pillars of this was the avoidance of ice cream.
Ice cream is one of the easy things for me to give up. If I can keep it out of the house, I won’t eat it. All I have to do is steer clear from The Dutch Udder in Troy or wherever Jeff and Kem decide to pull up their mobile cart.
Do I miss it? Sure. But I don’t crave it the same way I crave things like butter.
Well, things went off the rails in Pennsylvania. First there was all the water ice. Then my cousin introduced me to the farm fresh ice cream place with that amazing brownie sundae. So by the time I made it out to the farm, my resolve was low. And that meant three trips to The Meadows, which is a frozen custard chain in the Keystone State. And that was in addition to a local soft serve spot called The Cow where I had my annual ice cream soda.
When I came home, I knew that I had the Tour de Soft Serve looming on Saturday. But that would be okay, because I don’t even like soft serve. It’s not really ice cream. Still, I do these tours because they are fun. And…um…science.
Then, I got word that AOA wanted to do an ice cream tasting. Who could say no?
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