Dungeness Crab in Canada

Creyde's family enjoy the local sea spoils on Vancouver Island, BC!

Evolutionary Organics

black crim heirlooms
Two words to describe this organic produce stand: scrupulous and sumptuous. Evolutionary is at Union Square (south end) on Wednesdays and Grand Army Plaza on Saturdays.

Beast in Brooklyn

We spent Sunday evening in a beastly place on Vanderbilt Avenue... its a restaurant that looks like a bar but doesn't taste like a bar at all. Our leisurely dinner was of duck breast salad, beet salad, fried manchego, seared scallops, and lovely calamari. Dinner is "tapas" portions, which is perfect for Sunday grazing. I will definitely return to BEAST again!
Recommended!

Julie's Farm, Glover Park, Wash. DC~

Julie's well-endowed amaranth

Meet Dino... King of the Garden


Julie's tomato harvest!

A Thing of Beauty...

Tarts!

Italian Grandma and French Grandma (of which I have neither) Tarts...
These two turned out well, better than the mini-tarts we made the first time. The 9" pan accomodates more custard and innards and less crust. They take a long time, but Antonia was patient... and we finished half the prosecco before we ate! This time I added some good old lard to the butter for the crust, although I am still not able to make the dough behave yet~ dough must obey!
Italian: smoked mozzarella, plum tomatoes, green and purple basil, and a bit of egg and cream custard.
Provencale: dijon mustard, herbs d' Provence, gruyere, plum tomatoes, zucchini, and a lot of custard.
~These were adapted from the recipes in Once Upon a Tart

Bianca

Tomorrow am is my 5:45 shift at the Park Slope Food Co•op. This workshift has become a truly educational foray into the world of cheeses for me. Every month I find something new in the back of the walk-in, and I enjoy testing everything (for quality control). A vegetarian friend recently asked me about cheeses made with vegetable rennet, and coincidentally yesterday I came across one at the Union Square Greenmarket. It is made by Hawthorne Valley Farm and tastes pretty darn good. It is a fresh cheese, comparable to goat, but has an almost sweet edge to it. Definitely worth trying!