Calamity Shazaam in the Kitchen

One of my most favorite people in this world turned 93 today. And I will say that for 93, he is still going strong, except for the mobility part which is a little slower than in the days of yore. We took him to Cafe Marliave. I went on Monday night for drinks with Pam of CaveCibum and I was already ready to go back. So I persuaded everyone else to go along with the plan, and off we went. Grandpapa had been to Cafe Marliave once before. Oh back in 1947. Yep. He used to work on Bromfield Street and had eaten at the old cafe back in the day. Of course the food was delicious. We ate in the downstairs restaurant , and once again I went with the Molasses Flood cocktail. Just as delicious as the first time. Grandpapa also had one, while La Maman went with the Henry Marliave, the Evil Twin opted for the Jenny Churchill, and her B-b-b-boyfriend had a Henry Marliave too. And we opted for a bottle of red wine that was gorgeous. A large plate of olive oil with fat and juicy olives comes with the ...

I ordered my Diemand Farm turkey today. WHOO HOO! The woman I spoke to on the phone sounded very somber indeed when she told me that they regretted having to raise the price to $3.49 per pound. Seems like a pretty ok price to me considering they are the best damn turkeys I have ever tasted. Ever. And also because every place else seems to be charging lots more. Well except for Stillmans Farm , and I do want to give them a mention because they also have an excellent product. Let me say though that these turkey-lurkeys are not certified organic. They are raised by hand however, and left to scratch about outside. Then they are processed by hand, instead of by machines. The woman who raises them at the farm is quite passionate about the whole business and I in turn am passionate about Diemand Farm turkey. SO, again, if you are interested in getting one for yourself, I will be making the Annual Turkey Shoot trip on the Sunday before Thanksgiving. If you want to order one, let me know and I...

And this is good old Boston, The home of the bean and the cod, Where Lowells talk only to Cabots, And Cabots talk only to God. -John Collins Bossidy Pam from Cave Cibum and I went on Ye Olde Food Tour of Boston - an event we just thought up to amuse ourselves. In truth I think that I like the idea of Ye Olde Boston food better than the reality. The reality seems to be mostly sh*tty tourist food, with a few nice surprises. We started at Fanueil Hall/Quincy Market, at Durgin Park . Durgin Park is a Boston institution that natives talk of fondly but only tourists eat at. Durgin Park signage on the left. Across the way is Sam's Cafe at Cheers. This is a complete Venus-Tourist-Flytrap. Cheers is a fictional Boston bar. Sam Malone is imaginary. It ought to be illegal for non-tourists to go here. Click on the photos to make them bigger. The dining room at Durgin Park. And the downstairs meat locker. The dining room is shabby around the edges and there is a great big open kitchen. The wait...

Did I ever mention that I love John Thorne? Because I do. It is a love similar to Tammy's Farmer Love . It's embarrassing, unrequited, and passionate and I take Simple Cooking to bed with me every night. Did I mention this love was embarrassing? Yep. I mean really, the very first section includes SEVEN hot chocolate recipes. Seven. 7 Ok well anyway, I've been reading through the book and it's exactly my kind of food porn. Some folks like their food porn full of glossy centerfolds of puff pastry and foie gras, or thick volumes of aesthetically pleasing French haute cuisine. I am not that girl. I like a cozier kind of food porn. I want to read recipes that are the kind of recipes my girlfriend would give me over the phone. Roast chicken, rice and peas, black cake - these are the things I get off on. And don't get me wrong, I love gougeres or steak tartare as much as the next person, but those sorts of things don't keep me warm at night. Instead I snuggle into bed ...

I am one of those people who grew up thinking that little baked snacks in colorful plastic wrappers was the best thing since smokable cocaine. Back in the day I could go to the corner store/bookie joint and get a honey bun and a Coca Cola for a buck, and I would wheedle and cajole those precious dollar bills out of my Dad's wallet like the Artful Dodger himself. Anything to get that honey bun fix. And it wasn't just honey buns. It was Ring Dings and bewitching pink SnoBalls and Ho Ho's and the elusive Drake's Coffee Cakes. The Coffee Cakes were the hardest to come by and I never knew why. However sitting here thinking about it, it was probably because adults would buy them for coffee break. Even though when I was young I promised myself that when I was a grown up I would eat Hostess cakes everyday and drink Coca Cola by the gallon, I really haven't kept that promise. Truth be told I've kind of grown out of the taste for them, except for only occasionally. But th...

Operation Baking GALS is gearing up for Round Four and I just wanted to share a little something with you. Today I got an email from an unfamiliar, clearly military, email address. Figuring it had to be OBG related I opened it and sure enough it was from a package recipient! Whoo hoo! Here what they had to say: Classification: UNCLASSIFIED Caveats: NONE Ms. "Lily Von Schtoop", I really appreciated you sending those delicious cookies from miles away! Thank you, for putting your heart into baking cookies that you sent to me and my battle buddies! We really enjoyed and all we can talk about was home!! Thank you again so much for doing a great task! "Taking care of soldiers". Continue to keep us in your prayers!!! We'll do the same! Here's A Bible Verse: Matthew 25:21 - "His master replied, 'Well done, good and faithful servant! You have been faithful with a few things; I will put you in charge of many thin...

This morning I got up and had every intention of going into work to get caught up on some stuff and since I don't have the fancy pass to get in on the weekends I had to borrow someone else's and annoyingly I get all the way over there and turns out her pass doesn't work either. Totally frustrating, only slightly less so as the office is a little less than half a mile from my house. But still, you know. So I went food shopping instead. And what a mistake that was. I spent a golden goose egg on pretty much nothing, and let me tell you why. Well for starters I have PMS. This means that I have the hungry horrors but unfortunately I have no idea what to stuff the ol'piehole with. Do I want a 47 layer chocolate cake? Hmmmm, no. Do I want two fried eggs on toast with sausages? Hmmmmm, no. What about a lobster dinner? Hmmmmm, no. Or a garlic pizza? Hmmmm, no. Oh wait, what about a hot fudge sundae with all the trimmings? Hmmmm, no. I want everything and nothing. Curses! Then I...

Last night I went out with BFW Tammy and Cave Pam to have a margarita and to try out the cheapo tapas at Masa in the South End. But mostly to hang out with two marvelous women who make me laugh a lot. I have to say that all day long I waited very patiently for that margarita. And that furthermore I am a lightweight these days when it comes to alcohol. I used to be a contendah, but nowadays one strong beverage and I get a bit doughy at the edges. PUH-thetic really. But every now and then I really, really, really lust after a nice frosty drink. I wanted ice and mixer and plenty of alcohol and a fuzzy feeling when I finished. It's just something I needed . This time it was lust for a tangy margarita. And plus for some bizarre reason tequila makes me jolly. A jolly green tequila drinker! Huzzah! So I got a margarita. I didn't even wait for the other two to show up before ordering my drink! Thankfully I was sitting just below the handy-dandy drinks menu. Ahhhh behold the Classi...

Whoo hoo it is Turkey ( ordering) Time! This week I am calling Diemand Farm to put in my turkey request. Let me know if you want to order one. I will be driving out to get them the weekend before Thanksgiving and I am MORE than happy to pick yours up too. If you have any questions about what I think of Diemand Farm products, just click here , here , here , and here .

To my complete shame I had NO problem starting out again on the food safari through Maine this morning. The Evil Twin and I took the Nutty Professor out for breakfast as thanks for putting us up and so we went to the Chin Dine-ah in China, ME. Totally worth the wait and an excellent way to start the food safari. I had the homemade baked beans and wild Maine blueberry pancakes. It looks like the Evil Twin had two eggs over hard with wheat toast, apparently with a side of a piece of kale and a wedge of orange. BORING! The Nutty Professor had the Monte Cristo, which is french toast stuffed with cheese and bacon and turkey, topped with butter, and a side of home fries. That cramping feeling is my heart seizing up. Possibly I need more butter. Aaaaaaaaand we're ALL members of the clean plate club. No shame in that. Right? *sighhhhhhh*

Let me tell you that in Maine it is really easy to find stuff that is made in the State of Maine. There is a whole lot of state pride going on up there. State of Maine beans on the one side. Polish, German, and assorted other European goods on the other. Separated from each other by semi-local and assorted other American goods. And I really liked this poster because I thought it was for a big lobster bake or something, but instead it was for a football game. I still like the poster though. Another lobster themed sign I liked. I think it is funny how no one blinks when they use a live lobster being plunged into boiling water as advertising. I can't imagine a steak house showing a cow being led to a slaughterhouse as advertising. Ok, well maybe I don't think it is funny, so much as curious. But I still think that lobsters are pretty tasty.