JTravel
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Posts posted by JTravel
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This is fascinating! I love learning about "what it's like" wherever someone is. And this is a world away from my everyday home cooking, with a bit of travel and foreign foods from time to time. Great stuff.
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I almost always do it. I'm sure I learned it from either "The Galloping Gourmet" Graham Kerr, of the "Frugal Gourmet", Jeff Smith in the early days of watching cooking on t.v. Is it the Maillard Reaction?
It does seem that a whole can of paste would be too much, I usually use two large cans of tomatoes and the little can of paste.
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Did not get to Cleveland partly due to scheduling and mainly due to being WAY out of my depth food wise.
But I already like the ideas of cheese steak crawl, ice creams and home made beverages both of the alcoholic and non types. DH can have the beer, I'll take the root beer. I'm sure I could spend most of a day in the area of the famous RTM. As you can tell, my foodie interests are leaning to the simpler things and I'm big on tours.
The dates Kerry gave should work for us, and I'll do my best to get us there.
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Never did like the ice crystals....but do love a rootbeer float. Don't make them at home, only diet soda here. But this week as part of their "30th?" anniversary the local Tom Wahl's has them for $.99. A better bargain there could hardly be.....their own recipe rootbeer, plus a BIG squeeze of soft serve. May not be classic, isn't homemade but it's GOOD. Time to celebrate anniversaries
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Have to second everything you said about Swan's. We finally went....a Groupon got us there at last. Your pictures show it perfectly . We sat with some Rochester Germans and had wonderful conversations. But on the really hot day we were there it was a cool oasis so you must have hit a bad day. DH was happy he could get a beer to go along with cold sausage and bread and then hot sausages. After the appetizer and bread I only ate 1/3 of my mushroom gravied porky piece. Excellent! That meant another couple of small meals at home along with a bit of the wonderful German potato salad and the red cabbage....sour but delicious. I love leftovers. Everything was so tasty and the place so friendly.
Must go again soon.
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In this part of western NYS it has to be Abbott's Frozen Custard. Lots of locations from on the beach at Lake Ontario to the suburbs. They are even "inside" the local Bill Gray's chain of burger places.
As they say on their webpage (http://abbottscustard.com/Frozen%20Custard.htm)....
"By definition, frozen custard is ‘super premium ice cream’. In reality, it’s a concoction all its own. Frozen custard is richer and creamier than standard ice cream. It has a noticeably different texture, which we describe as velvety and smooth. This is the result of unique ingredients, slower production time and a less aerated mix ."
Not sure about all that, but it tastes good to me....and many others...and it would hit the spot for sure in this heatwave.
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Sweet Roti at a street market in Thailand. It was a soft lump of dough, slapped and tossed on the shiny cart top till it got very thin. Some sweetened condensed milk and a sliced banana. Folded and crisped up, just great. Kept us coming back. The hand motions were marvelous to watch.
Thanks CanPan for the long list....it gives such an insight into your world. It all sounds good.
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I started with restaurant.com several years ago, and though I still buy once in a while I buy more from Groupon. I will admit to buying some and letting them run out.....so watch out for that.
Mostly I buy for "places I always wanted to try". We do tip correctly, I think restaurant.com adds on 18% automatically now. We have gone to places we never would have gone to......have we gone back.....not much.
I understand about places being overrun with couponers, and that they lose on every coupon sale. So I hope the store/restaurant owners are also well informed about what they are joining in on.
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Years ago a friend from Singapore introduced me to little meat pies,kind of a tender pie crust with ground beef filling. The secret, I thought only we knew, was curry powder in the dough. Secret's out I guess. Mashed potatoes in with meat I remember....time to search.
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Someday I will gather up those cans that tend to get lost in the back of the cupboard and try either the microwave, or the oven, "open can" method. Have done the boiled can, it's time to try something new.
In the meantime I found a tiny Mexican store open on Father's Day in a pretty small town. The young guy who waited on me said "we don't get many New Yorkers in here.....and asked how I was going to use the things I bought. I bought a can of Nestle Dulce de Leche, and a squeeze bottle of goat milk cajeta. (along with a can of El Pato from another thread, some crema, and queso fresca) Would do a comparison, but the squeeze one may be all gone before I get to it. Much darker than I'm used to, and very silky. Slides right into a spoon. I'm used to thinking of cajeta as a semi solid substance in a cup, usually with a little spoon attached. But this stuff is GOOD.
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OHHHHHHH ! You have "Three Ancient Cuisines" by The Frugal Gourmet ! Ohhhhhh, you're my kindred spirit ! I so love that book....
I have that one too....and Jeff Smith was an introduction to international cooking in the "early days". He was from the West Coast I think? Portland?
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Thanks, youv'e given me new ideas.
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Ground Dried Mushrooms.....never heard of it.....a brand or photo of package Please.
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What happens at our market is the Food Stamp users turn in/ or deduct from their card and get "wooden nickles" , I think in $1. amount. These they use like cash at the farm vendors. Sometimes so many people use them that they announce that farmers should turn them in at the office so they hand them out again.
So as said above it is a chance for low income people to buy fresh stuff, in the city, at good prices. The university runs a shuttle bus from campus too and lots of grad students and others in apartments shop at the market. All looking for bargains I would guess.
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Please take a minute to visit my local market....winner of an online vote ....for what it's worth....as America's Favorite Market.
http://www.cityofrochester.gov/article.aspx?id=8589936780
I look forward to posting our many products as the season goes by. I'm not sure where it fits in the Public/Farmers market debate. There is a permanent indoor structure.....mainly but not only, meats, fish, honey, bakeries . Two outdoor covered sheds with mostly produce, and some "stuff"... housewares, out of date bread and crackers, knit hats whatever. The city has recently refurbished the market and it seems to be very popular, at least on Saturdays. Parking can be difficult. It is surrounded by wholesale and retail buildings, lately turned into cheese shops (with their own olive oil), bakeries, and coffee shops. We even have a brewery, not IN the market, but very close. The area seems to be improving. It seems to be the place to be on weekends.....it's open for community garage sales on Sunday.
A lot of the produce is local, but of course there is "mango man" and always lemons and such non-local products. Some local growers must buy extra produce to extend their offerings. Many of the farm families have been selling at the market for generations.
To get to the topic of price I think that the prices for standard local produce at the market are much lower. The local big chain here is Wegmans where quality is not an issue but I find their prices high. This winter there were lots of cold storage apples and pears at the market which were excellent. I got a half bushel bag of Crispins for $7-8.
Will check back in a few weeks and I'll take pictures and check prices more carefully. But for now I'm saying I love good stuff and I love a bargain and I find both at our market.
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Yes! First found it mentioned on eGullet....maybe by FG. I ordered it with free shipping at Christmas, all 3 ....lemon, lime and orange. Have since found the shakers cheaper at Christmas Tree Shop.
Tonight I used the lemon on carrots cooked with honey. Just right. Any are nice on fish.
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I'm a fiend for bread chocolate. Straight from the box. We cannot keep the stuff around... my boyfriend keeps pointing out that eating the equivalent weight of good-quality chocolate bars would actually be cheaper than scarfing these sheets of crap-o almost-chocolate, but do I do that..? No. I do not.
I never, EVER, heard of that....Nutella yes, bread chocolate, no. Learned something today.
For me, mostly crunchy....this week $2. a pound Ollie's almond halves. Very thin, quite toasted, VERY crunchy. Triscuit kind of crackers with cream cheese or cheddar, never pb, that is breakfast. Too much snacking going on here.
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I too have enjoyed another part of the world, even if it's only on the other coast. After our long dark winter this was a treat.
I will try that sandwich with the roast pork left over from Mother's Day. Pickled things, fresh bread and pork, sounds good.
Thanks for your blog.
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This has been another fascinating look into another kitchen and a store too. I had no idea you had such a big business going on there. The ordering, the unloading, the stacking, the ORGANIZING.....the cooking and baking.
Thanks for the look into your food life.
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I love those cream cheese concoctions.
I second the adding of shrimp to either the cream cheese block (or make it into a ball) or the cocktail sauce. You can even add "real" shrimp though I am sure in the 70s it would have been the tiny (tinny?) canned ones. There was an era of the pepper jelly too.
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Western NY is big on Fish Frys on Friday nights already. But now I will have to start looking for a church one before Lent is over.
For lunch today we stopped at a Texas style BBQ (along the Erie Canal no less) but I gave in to fish fry. $8.95 for a really nice piece of battered fish, choice of 2 sides.....I had smashed potatoes and mac and cheese, and a great corn muffin. The mac and cheese did not have a baked crust but did improve a lot with a squeeze of their killer hot sauce. Plus this place always has 2 soups, free, with a donation jar to help out a local cause....nice New England Clam Chowder.....or pinto beans. DH had pulled pork sandwich with a side of deconstructed blooming onion.
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We did a getaway in Feb. with the Oakes Hotel in NF Ontario. It included dinner at Remington's and the other night we went to Antica. Both were nice,good tasty food. I really liked the set-up/open kitchen with pizza oven at Antica and the staff was really nice.
If you are interested our hotel deal also included free wine tastings at 4 wineries which we really enjoyed. A couple of those places have dinners in very upscale restaurants on the property but they are up toward Niagara on the Lake, farther than you were wanting to go
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I'm enjoying your blog, always love "food from afar".
The tour of Aldi was impressive. I'm a big fan here at home, but our stuff is rather ordinary, though good. Flavored tuna? We always visit them in Europe, I got a bunch of good cooking supplies in Germany....my favorite was tiny tubes of "essence"/extract for baking. And Stroop Waffles! They are certainly national/regional.
It costs just US$.25 for a shopping cart here....you almost never see one loose in the parking lot.
Thanks
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What a wonderful effort! This blog brings back the original soul of the blogs. A look at the everyday life an cooking and eating of a member who invites us into their life for a brief period.
Well said, while I adore the "foreign" one I also love the slice of life in another kitchen ones. Well done.
eG Food Blog: Percyn (2011)
in Food Traditions & Culture
Posted
This is wonderful.....all the things I like best in one place.....travel, exotic (to me) food, and an inside look at daily life.
Thanks so much for taking us along!