Friday, June 29, 2007

Leeks a la Grecque and other Inspirations

From The Produce Bible by Leanne Kitchen

picture photograph leeks a la grecque 2007 copyright of sam breach http://becksposhnosh.blogspot.com/

Leanne Kitchen. What a great name for the writer of a recipe book. And what a great book too. I was given it (thanks Fatemeh) less than three weeks ago and already it looks well lived in. (Probably something to do with the fact the lid jumped off the blender as I was making lettuce and lovage soup, and totally splattered the open book. But that's another story for another day since the soup was otherwise nothing to do with this particular tome).

On the surface The Produce Bible didn't grab me as anything extraordinary. I flicked through it few times without really thinking too hard or paying it too much attention. But the next thing I knew, after a trip to the market, where I was pretty much buying ingredients on a whim, this book was suddenly my new best friend helping me form ideas for the week's meals from my random selection of produce. First I found myself prepping ginger ready for pickling and next up I was making Leeks a La Grecque, barely stopping to wonder why. Not only did they taste good on their own, the leeks were fantastic mixed with leftover chicken and stuffed into a toasted pita for a packed lunch.

Two days later there I was, leafing through the Bible again, this time in order to make what turned out to be a very tasty Aloo Gobi which was especially good served with a cool cucumber raita. I thought that was it for the book for one week, but the next night I arrived home from work after 8pm with an overwhelming desire to make some kind of deconstructed lasagne from scratch. I kneaded up a small batch of pasta dough which I cut into large sheets and then simmered until tender before using them to sandwich togther a satisfying mix of shiitakes, more of that left over chicken, finely chopped onion, garlic, sherry and a dollop of creme fraiche. It was fairly impressive for a late evening meal and I was ready to congratulate myself on my inventiveness before the bible fell open on a page entitled "open lasagna of mushroom..." Although I hadn't even realised the Bible contained such a recipe, mine looked exactly like the lasagna in the book's picture. It's funny how things you don't think you are paying any attention to at all stick firmly in your consciousness sometimes.

Since it makes such a good companion to my vegetable shopping, I am pretty sure that from now on I will be making a conscious decision to stick The Produce Bible in the most-used section of my recipe collection too.






Archives
2006 | How to Make Bakewell Tarts

© 2007 Sam Breach at "Becks & Posh", becksposhnosh.blogspot.com This RSS Feed is for personal non-commercial use only. If you are not reading this material in your news aggregator, or at the aforementioned url, the site you are looking at might be guilty of copyright infringement. Please contact becks.posh.food.blog[AT]gmail[DOT]com to report any suspected violations. Thank you.
Leeks a la Grecque and other Inspirations

Wednesday, June 27, 2007

Fresh Garbanzo Beans & Pimientos de Padrón

Pan Fried, Browned, Blistered and Sprinkled with Salt, perfect company for a Summer Aperitif

picture photograph of pan roasted blistered fresh garbanzo beans and padrons  2007 copyright of sam breach http://becksposhnosh.blogspot.com/

This recipe from Happy Quail Farms, Californian guardians of the Pimientos de Padrón (Fresh Garbanzo Beans from Short Night Farm, my addition)

Pimientos de Padrón
Fresh Garbanzo Beans still in their pods
Olive Oil
Coarse Salt

Take a pan and pour enough oil to generously cover the bottom of the frying pan. Turn the heat up on the burner. When the olive oil starts to sizzle throw the garbanzo pods and the peppers in whole. When the peppers start having small white blisters and the garbanzos are golden, they are ready. Remove from the pan and place them in a serving dish. Sprinkle with coarse salt (I used Maldon). Hold the pepper by the stem and bite. Pop open the Garbanzo pods and gorge on the sweet little beans within. Slippery, slurpy, salty, sometimes hot and sometimes not. Happy, happy, joy, joy!



Local Resources

Happy Quail Farms
Short Night Farm
Brandon Eats Pimientos de Padrón
Culinary Russian Roulette by Chez Pim and on YouTube
Thanks to Cooking with Amy for suggesting I fry instead of steam the garbanzos.

Archives
2005 | My beloved Salter Digital Scales (now deceased and usurped by newer Salter scales)

© 2007 Sam Breach at "Becks & Posh", becksposhnosh.blogspot.com This RSS Feed is for personal non-commercial use only. If you are not reading this material in your news aggregator, or at the aforementioned url, the site you are looking at might be guilty of copyright infringement. Please contact becks.posh.food.blog[AT]gmail[DOT]com to report any suspected violations. Thank you.
Fresh Garbanzo Beans & Pimientos de Padrón

Tuesday, June 26, 2007

A More Dignified View of that Death

Off-the-top-of-my-head Roasted Chicken & Bread Salad with Watercress, Spring Onions and Lovage

picture photograph roast chicken and bread salad 2007 copyright of sam breach http://becksposhnosh.blogspot.com/

Roast a chicken just the way you like it. Don't overdo it.
Cube some stale bread, soak it in olive oil, season it with salt, pepper and slivers of fresh garlic.
Toast bread cubes in the oven until golden.
In a large bowl make up a dressing - a glug each of red and champagne vinegars, an equal amount of oil, salt, pepper, whisk to emulsify.
Add the croutons and mix well, Pour on any chicken juices left in the roasting pan too.
Leave for a few minutes until the bread starts to soften slightly.
Untangle some watercress, finely slice some spring onions, shred a few leaves of lovage and introduce the greens to the mix with your hands.
Gently mingle the elements together until they are all glistening.
Present your warm chicken on a large plate
Surround with the bread salad.
Sit down to eat.

Wait, but not too long, until your dining companion remarks that this is the best and most juicy chicken he has ever tasted. Revel in the marvel of having made something so delicious completely on your tod.




Local Resources
Bread = Acme's Epi
Chicken from Marin Sun Farms
Real watercress from Four Sisters Farm
Spring Onions from Chue's Farm
Lovage from White Crane Spring Ranch
Fresh Garlic from Hunter's Orchards

Archives
2006 | Watching the World Cup in San Francisco
2005 | Egg Sandwiches with crisps

© 2007 Sam Breach at "Becks & Posh", becksposhnosh.blogspot.com This RSS Feed is for personal non-commercial use only. If you are not reading this material in your news aggregator, or at the aforementioned url, the site you are looking at might be guilty of copyright infringement. Please contact becks.posh.food.blog[AT]gmail[DOT]com to report any suspected violations. Thank you.
A More Dignified View of that Death

Monday, June 25, 2007

Undignified in Death?

picture photograph or animated gif 2007 copyright of sam breach http://becksposhnosh.blogspot.com/

First I read about hers and then I noticed she had one as well and because I didn't want to be left out, I joined the Marin Sun Farms Chicken get out your cleaver club too.



Other Resources & Further Reading
There are lots of instructions online about How to Cut up a Chicken, but in the several that I checked, the head and feet had already been removed. Is the Western world too mollycoddled?

The Great San Francisco Chicken Crisis of 2007.

Archives
2006 | Mary Ladd's Food Finds
2005 | and Bunnyfoot

© 2007 Sam Breach at "Becks & Posh", becksposhnosh.blogspot.com This RSS Feed is for personal non-commercial use only. If you are not reading this material in your news aggregator, or at the aforementioned url, the site you are looking at might be guilty of copyright infringement. Please contact becks.posh.food.blog[AT]gmail[DOT]com to report any suspected violations. Thank you.
Undignified in Death?

Sunday, June 24, 2007

Home Made Food Gifts

Guarantee Smiles

picture photograph of hand made food gift by Jen Maiser of lifebeginsat30.com 2007 copyright of sam breach http://becksposhnosh.blogspot.com/
Do you think that Jen will mind that I put my 'tea herbs' in a Pimm's and Lemonade cocktail instead?


Food Bloggers are an ingenious bunch, none more so than Jen Maiser of Life Begins at 30 who stunned me with this beautiful homemade gift a couple of weeks ago. No one correctly guessed the answer to this question in the quiz I left last week but eventually the other gifts were matched to their makers by observant readers. The Butterscotch Pot de Creme, of course, was made by Shuna of Eggbeater and the amazingly fruity and creamy fresh pink strawberry ice cream was lovingly crafted for me by Catherine of Food Musings. What with all this and all the other lovely gifts I received from other wonderful people, I have to tell you, I have the loveliest friends.

picture photograph of hand made food gift preserved lemons by Jen Maiser of lifebeginsat30.com 2007 copyright of sam breach http://becksposhnosh.blogspot.com/
Look! She made me dinky little preserved lemons!


picture photograph of hand made food gift vanilla pods by Jen Maiser of lifebeginsat30.com 2007 copyright of sam breach http://becksposhnosh.blogspot.com/
She gave me more vanilla pods than I can shake a stick at! Also included were dried Bing cherries, cooking herbs and homemade rose geranium syrup.


Thanks Jen, Shuna, Catherine and all my other lovely friends.




Local Resources
Fellow Brit, Enidd, has just come to live in San Francisco from Molvania. She has a very funny blog - you might enjoy her point of view as she settles in America.

Local Foods SF
has launched a From the Farm to your Door Calculator

Archives
2005 | A trip to Zuni Cafe and the beginning of a love affair with Caramel Pot de Creme, my obsession with which probably led to the gift that Shuna made for me as described in the post above.
2004 | Cooking Dinner for Children


© 2007 Sam Breach at "Becks & Posh", becksposhnosh.blogspot.com This RSS Feed is for personal non-commercial use only. If you are not reading this material in your news aggregator, or at the aforementioned url, the site you are looking at might be guilty of infringeing copyright. Please contact becks.posh.food.blog[AT]gmail[DOT]com to report any suspected violations. Thank you.
Home Made Food Gifts

Saturday, June 23, 2007

Welcome Enidd, to San Franciso

Third Person Singular

"Enidd is a Brit (bloggedy friend of my mUm and little sis) who’s recently completed her two year sentence in Molvania, land of cold, corruption and pork with cheese. She’s moved with the man to the Mission district of San Francisco.

Obligatory health warning: if you’re American and you can’t take a bit of good-natured ribbing about your country and how weird it is, then move along swiftly please
."

Since I am not American, having Enidd in town is going to be a bit of a giggle. Welcome to San Francisco, Enidd...





© 2007 Sam Breach at "Becks & Posh", becksposhnosh.blogspot.com This RSS Feed is for personal non-commercial use only. If you are not reading this material in your news aggregator, or at the aforementioned url, the site you are looking at might be guilty of copyright infringement. Please contact becks.posh.food.blog[AT]gmail[DOT]com to report any suspected violations. Thank you.
Welcome Enidd, to San Franciso

SF Local Farm Foods Calculator

from Francisco Hernández

Please excuse my absence over the last couple of weeks. I have had other things on my mind. I promise I will get back to you with the answer to that quiz I left you with as soon as I can. It involves uploading some more pictures otherwise I'd tell you right now. (No one has got it quite 100% right yet, so you there is time for one last attempt, it's the first gift that seems to be eluding people).

I am very excited abut heading the market this morning. Not only will I be meeting a certain blogger for the first time, it will be my first real visit to the market in weeks, for various reasons with solid alibis that have determined to keep me away from it for a while.

I went to check on CUESA's newsletter in order to attempt some pre-market planning this morning only to find they hadn't written one for this week. This serendipitously led me to last week's newsletter instead which in pointed me in the direction of a local blog called Local Foods Sf, written by Francisco Hernández amd described as connecting local food producers and consumers. Most interestingly Hernández, with the help of a friend, has created a Local Foods Calculator into which you can enter your zip code and match it with a choice of local farms in order to see how far food has travelled to get to your door. I certainly wish I'd had access to that when I wrote this.





Local Resources
Other Resources & Further Reading
Archives
2006 | Cute Pussy, Milk and Vodka

© 2007 Sam Breach at "Becks & Posh", becksposhnosh.blogspot.com This RSS Feed is for personal non-commercial use only. If you are not reading this material in your news aggregator, or at the aforementioned url, the site you are looking at might be guilty of infringing copyright terms. Please contact becks.posh.food.blog[AT]gmail[DOT]com to report any suspected violations. Thank you.
SF Local Farm Foods Calculator

Friday, June 15, 2007

TECHNOLOGY IN THE KITCHEN: INNOVATION AND DISCOVERY OF MODERN CUISINE

I am going to have to miss my wonderful friend Amanda Berne, who I would never have met if it wasn't for this blog, chairing this panel at The Ferry Building on Monday. Maybe you can go and report back to me instead? Get your ticket here.

MONDAY JUNE 18 | BAY GOURMET

DAVID KINCH, Chef/Owner, Manresa
HAROLD MCGEE, Food Science Writer
DANIEL PATTERSON, Chef/Owner, Coi
JING TIO, Proprietor, Le Sanctuaire
AMANDA BERNE, Senior Editor, Ten Speed Press - Moderator


"Cassoulet is no longer king, and the Larousse Gastronomique is no longer the last word. Experimentation and science are assuming an ever-greater place in American kitchens – both in restaurants and at home. Two forward-thinking chefs, a food science writer and the man who sells them all their toys will tell you how Bay Area chefs are staying on the edge of current trends – such as molecular gastronomy – and help you re-create some of their work in your own home."


6:00 p.m., Reception | 6:30 p.m., Program | Ferry Building, Port Commission Hearing Room, 1 Ferry Plaza, San Francisco | $12 for Members, $18 for Non-Members | To map directions to this program, visit Google Maps.
Program Organizer: Cathy Curtis



And as for my little Mystery Quiz in the last post- there has been a guess that's on the right tracks, but it's only warm. Can you get even closer?


Local Resources
Hmmm? Coincidence or not? When I was enjoying the Alain Passard Dinner at David Kinch's Manresa with Amanda Berne we were sitting at the table next to Harold McGee and we also had a long chat with the charming Jing Tio. Was the idea for this panel conceived in my presence?

*Neither Amanda Berne or anyone else connected with this event asked me to write about on my blog. I am just completely bummed I am going to miss it, but that doesn't mean you have to.

Archives
2006 | Magnolia Bakery, New York
2005 | Cafe Bassam, San Diego


© 2007 Sam Breach at "Becks & Posh", becksposhnosh.blogspot.com This RSS Feed is for personal non-commercial use only. If you are not reading this material in your news aggregator, or at the aforementioned url, the site you are looking at might be guilty of infringeing the terms of my copyright. Please contact becks.posh.food.blog[AT]gmail[DOT]com to report any suspected violations. Thank you.
TECHNOLOGY IN THE KITCHEN: INNOVATION AND DISCOVERY OF MODERN CUISINE

Wednesday, June 13, 2007

Food Blogger Mystery

Which Food Bloggers Made me these wonderful Gifts...?

picture photograph  2007 copyright of sam breach http://becksposhnosh.blogspot.com/
1) An inspired homemade gift for someone who is interested in food. Whose brainwave was this gift?

picture photograph  2007 copyright of sam breach http://becksposhnosh.blogspot.com/
2) This blogger knows what I like, how I like it and how to make it. Who made what?

picture photograph  2007 copyright of sam breach http://becksposhnosh.blogspot.com/
3) Icy gift, warm heart. Who made me strawberry ice cream?

Good luck with the guessing - the answers will be in my next post.





Archives
2006 | Breakfast for Dinner, Lots of Champagne
2005 | Rice at the W in San Diego


© 2007 Sam Breach at "Becks & Posh", becksposhnosh.blogspot.com This RSS Feed is for personal non-commercial use only. If you are not reading this material in your news aggregator, or at the aforementioned url, the site you are looking at might be guilty of infringing this blog's copyright terms. Please contact becks.posh.food.blog[AT]gmail[DOT]com to report any suspected violations. Thank you.
Food Blogger Mystery

Monday, June 11, 2007

My 7x7 San Francisco Favorite Food Things

And Then Some

When 7x7 Magazine flattered me by mentioning they were contacting food cognoscenti to think of 10 of their favorite food things in the city (strictly limited to San Francisco proper) for their June Best Of issue, I jumped on board without a second thought. I was already in the midst of planning a party where I intended to serve delicious edibles by my favourite local artisans instead of my usual self-catering, so putting together the list was practically a no-brainer. 7x7 Magazine published five from my list of favourites (read the article here) and at that party I served some of them up, the rest and more...

picture photograph poco dolce caramel tiles 2007 copyright of sam breach http://becksposhnosh.blogspot.com/
These chocolates, made only two blocks from my house, made it into the magazine: "“Poco Dolce sesame chocolate tiles take me to a new nirvana: Brittle sesame caramel is set within a generous slab of velvety dark chocolate, sprinkled with a dusting of sea salt.” Available at Bi-Rite Market (3639 18th St., 415-241-9760)" Actually - Bi-Rite don't have the tiles at this time as I discovered to my disappointment. Currently the only places you can get hold of them is at Poco Dolce's Online Store or at Yield Wine Bar. Pictured above are the caramel tiles. Insanely good too.

picture photograph creme brulee tart from petite patisserie organic bakery  2007 copyright of sam breach http://becksposhnosh.blogspot.com/
Another 7x7 pick: “It’s hard for me to choose between the crème brûlée tarts and the walnut tarts at Petite Patisserie in Potrero Hill.” (1415 18th St., 415-821-9378) So for my party I ordered one of each. Pictured prior to being torched (they'll do it for you in the shop but I opted to do it at home just prior to serving) the Creme Brulee tart has nothing in common with the ubiquitous dessert you'll find on every unimaginative restaurant menu. It's perfect and the walnut tart is sticky good too.

picture photograph clairesquares la cocina  2007 copyright of sam breach http://becksposhnosh.blogspot.com/
Although I submitted Clairesquares for the magazine - they sadly didn't make it into print. They certainly made it to my party though. Claire very kindly agreed to prep me a batch in bite-sized pieces so that they would make easy-to-eat finger food. As a surprise - Claire also presented me with a few pints of freshly made strawberry gelato studded with pieces of her chocolate flapjacks coming soon from a new venture, still to be named, in the La Cocina kitchens.

picture photograph clairesquares la cocina  2007 copyright of sam breach http://becksposhnosh.blogspot.com/
I tried to get Tartine's glorious quiches into the article too and although that didn't happen, they made it into the bellies of several satisfied friends at the party. I could never make a quiche as good as these, the pastry is wonderfully flaky and the nutmeg-scented filling is fluffy, rich and decadent. Both flavours are excellent, but the changing vegetarian version usually has me going back for seconds more than the classic ham. It's a close run thing though.

Fatted Calf Bacon was number 1 on the list of favourite foodstuffs I sent to 7x7 but it didn't make it to the line up, probably because they were featured last year. I also tried name-dropping June Taylor's tomato ketchup, which pairs exquisitely with it, to no avail. The Fatted Calf's bacon is something I eat in my every day life on a weekly basis, pretty much without fail, and it was the only item I bought for my party that required some cooking (I was trying to cut back on cooking and enjoy my own party for a change). But so laid back had I become at the thought of not being a slave to the stove, I apparently hadn't found time to prepare it before my guests started to arrive. Thank goodness, then, for the sweetheart who decided to get out the frying pan at 1am in the morning to cook it for the crowds. I also served some Fatted Calf pate and petit jambon.

picture photograph Acme pain epi  2007 copyright of sam breach http://becksposhnosh.blogspot.com/
My favourite bread in the Bay Area to date is Acme's Pain Epi. We also served one of their large Pain au Levain (Fred's favourite).

picture photograph McQuade's chutneys  2007 copyright of sam breach http://becksposhnosh.blogspot.com/
McQuade's Celtic Chutneys are a great accompaniment to the petit jambon in particular.

picture photograph Happy Girl Kitchen pickled carrots  2007 copyright of sam breach http://becksposhnosh.blogspot.com/
Happy Girl Kitchen's Pickled Carrots were also in attendance.

picture photograph june taylor syrup  2007 copyright of sam breach http://becksposhnosh.blogspot.com/
I decided to buy a few bottles of June Taylor's Syrup as a mixer for the sparkling wine. By far the most popular flavour was the summery strawberry scented syrup paired with delicate rose geranium. Just remembering its perfume makes me giddy at the thought. Strawberry and rhubarb was full of sweet charm too whilst the blackberry and lemon verbena was more subtle and understated.

picture photograph jtartine gougeres  2007 copyright of sam breach http://becksposhnosh.blogspot.com/
One point of my party was to share locally made, artisanal favourites with my friends. But when I ordered 2lbs (yes - you buy them by the pound!) of Gougeres from Tartine Bakery (they caught my eye when I was pre-ordering the quiche), I did so not knowing what they would taste like. And it's not like I can't make gougere myself, if I put my mind to it. There is nothing quite like serving freshly-baked gougeres straight from the oven, but if you don't want to party in your pinny, then these are some shop-bought gougeres will allow you to entertain without the worry of last minute cooking. They worked for me, but Fred said they had too many spices in them for his French taste. Please note that Tartine's gougeres are considered a special order that needs to be placed at least five days in advance.

It was a lot of fun thinking of my favourite San Francisco food things for the magazine and then being able to put my money where my mouth is by featuring many of them at a buffet for my friends. It was great to have the opportunity to share so much deliciousness, but I am sure this is just the tip of the iceberg, there must be so much else out there I am missing.

If you were throwing a party where the only work you had to for it was do was to drive around town and pick delicious local things up, what would YOU serve?




PS - And I just need to mention Bi Rite Creamery's mouth-watering, perfectly balanced Salted Caramel ice cream which I finally got around to trying this past weekend after reading this. It certainly would have made an appearance at the party too if I hadn't been kindly gifted so much of La Cocina's creamy strawberry gelato.

Resources and Further Reading
Read the 7x7 Food Blog | Bits & Bites
Karaoke Machine Rental

Archives
2006 | Last Year's Party
2005 | I'm Mad and I Eat
2004 | Red Hot & Pink Party


© 2007 Sam Breach at "Becks & Posh", becksposhnosh.blogspot.com This RSS Feed is for personal non-commercial use only. If you are not reading this material in your news aggregator, or at the aforementioned url, the site you are looking at might be guilty of copyright infringement. Please contact becks.posh.food.blog[AT]gmail[DOT]com to report any suspected violations. Thank you.
My 7x7 San Francisco Favorite Food Things

Sunday, June 10, 2007

What does a Good Party Look Like?

One that Had a Lot of Bubbles...

picture photograph of empty bottles after a party 2007 copyright of sam breach http://becksposhnosh.blogspot.com/

When I brought three cases of my favourite Cremant de Limoux, I have to be honest, I didn't actually think we would drink that much. Perhaps I even had visions of me bathing in the remainder. As it turns out, only a small foot spa is possible. If you have a hangover today, is it my fault?




Local Resources
Cremant de Limoux Aimery Sieur d'Arques "1531", from KL WInes, note that the San Francisco store currently has none in stock because I probably bought it all. This wine is K&L's eighth best seller in the under $30 category and it is fabulous for parties!

Archives
2006 | Is New York Better than San Francisco?
2005 | Bix, The Helmand, Oola, Aziza.
2004 | Blowfish, Sushi to Die For?


© 2007 Sam Breach at "Becks & Posh", becksposhnosh.blogspot.com This RSS Feed is for personal non-commercial use only. If you are not reading this material in your news aggregator, or at the aforementioned url, the site you are looking at might be guilty of copyright infringement. Please contact becks.posh.food.blog[AT]gmail[DOT]com to report any suspected violations. Thank you.
What does a Good Party Look Like?

Thursday, June 07, 2007

Cake to Order from Petite Patisserie

Any Way You Like It

picture photograph almond cake in marzipan bt petite patisserie copyright of sam breach http://becksposhnosh.blogspot.com/
It's one thing to go into a Bakery and choose a cake that physically takes your fancy but it takes a small leap of faith to order a cake when you have no idea what the result will be. I went ahead and made a special order anyway, an Almond cake from Petite Patisserie's tempting menu of flavours. I had no idea what it would look like, even, but I wasn't disappointed. It was simply pretty, understated and delicate.

I chose layers of dense almond cake sandwiched together with pastry cream and fresh strawberries robed in tender marzipan. Just how I imagined I would like it. And I did. The dozen or so colleagues I shared it with seemed impressed too. My cube was a very popular place at 3pm yesterday afternoon. Which flavour would you have chosen?



Petite Patisserie Organic Bakery
1415 Eighteenth Street
San Francisco CA 94107
415 821 9378


Local Resources
Petite Patisserie's sticky little walnut tarts
Previously on Becks & Posh
Petite Patisserie Website

Archives
2005 | David Bowie Cake Circa 1983



© 2007 Sam Breach at "Becks & Posh", becksposhnosh.blogspot.com This RSS Feed is for personal non-commercial use only. If you are not reading this material in your news aggregator, or at the aforementioned url, the site you are looking at might be guilty of copyright infringement. Please contact becks.posh.food.blog[AT]gmail[DOT]com to report any suspected violations. Thank you.
Cake to Order from Petite Patisserie

Wednesday, June 06, 2007

Apples are Back in Season


picture photograph apple macbook pro copyright of sam breach http://becksposhnosh.blogspot.com/
I had no idea that Apple were bringing out a new MacBook Pro yesterday, one inch thin, weighing 5.4 lbs, Core 2 Duo, next-generation 802.11n wireless, wickedly fast NVIDIA graphics and a power-efficient LED-backlit display. I had even less of an idea that Fred was going to bring one home for me. Clueless, really. Shocked! And surprised in the most perfect way possible. After several years of using a PC, Apples are now in season all year round at the Becks & Posh household. They're local too. Less than 50 miles from my front door!





Archives
2006 | No Way! I can't believe it!
2005 | Tra la la la la la la la la la
2004 | Red Hot & Pink


© 2007 Sam Breach at "Becks & Posh", becksposhnosh.blogspot.com This RSS Feed is for personal non-commercial use only. If you are not reading this material in your news aggregator, or at the aforementioned url, the site you are looking at might be guilty of copyright infringement. Please contact becks.posh.food.blog[AT]gmail[DOT]com to report any suspected violations. Thank you.
Apples are Back in Season

Tuesday, June 05, 2007

I Tried Dry Rhubarb Soda...

...So You Don't Have To

picture photograph dry rhubarb soda 2007 copyright of sam breach http://becksposhnosh.blogspot.com/

Last night, as I chopped long pink-tinged green rhubarb stems for a crumble I was making, the glorious scent that escaped from this sour/sweet vegetable almost made me swoon with pleasure. Dry Rhubarb Soda could not even come close to causing the same response. They say that their drink "captures both the sweet complexity and the mouth-watering tartness of rhubarb. With an unmatched liveliness..." I say "Does the emperor have no clothes?" I can find nothing of rhubarb in this drink. To me it's simply a slightly perfumed, lightly sugared sparkling water with less calories than most sodas. It's not for me. On the rare occasions I drink soda, and until there is a local source for Elderflower Presse in America, I'll stick with my favourite, Fizzy Lizzy, thank you very much.




Local Resources
Local Rhubarb | from Happy Quail Farms

Other Resources & Further Reading
Dry blogged | by The Accidental Hedonist
Dry blogged | by Seattle Bon Vivant

Archives
2006 | Food Bloggers in New York


© 2007 Sam Breach at "Becks & Posh", becksposhnosh.blogspot.com This RSS Feed is for personal non-commercial use only. If you are not reading this material in your news aggregator, or at the aforementioned url, the site you are looking at might be guilty of copyright infringement. Please contact becks.posh.food.blog[AT]gmail[DOT]com to report any suspected violations. Thank you.
I Tried Dry Rhubarb Soda...

Monday, June 04, 2007

Wide Angle on a Kara's Cupcake

Fred plays with his new lens

picture photograph or animated gif 2007 copyright of sam breach http://becksposhnosh.blogspot.com/
Modeled by Ms Raspberry Dazzle


I am really not a big cupcake fan, but this one from Kara was actually ok by me. I don't care much for such an outrageous amount of buttercream myself, but when it is such a delicate, pretty pink with a sniff of raspberry, I can grant it forgiveness.


Local Resources
Kara's Cupcakes Website

Archives
2006 | Food Art at the New York MoMa
2005 | Can the English Make 'Champagne'?



© 2007 Sam Breach at "Becks & Posh", becksposhnosh.blogspot.com This RSS Feed is for personal non-commercial use only. If you are not reading this material in your news aggregator, or at the aforementioned url, the site you are looking at might be guilty of copyright infringement. Please contact becks.posh.food.blog[AT]gmail[DOT]com to report any suspected violations. Thank you.
Wide Angle on a Kara's Cupcake