Tag Archives: orange

Symbolism in Chinese food: an introduction

Posted on January 22, 2009 | Leave a comment

January 26th is Chinese New Year, ushering in the year of the ox. This is a time for lots of eating, with lots of symbolism around the food.

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Posted in Events, Homemade

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Polenta and pork cheeks

Posted on December 23, 2008 | 2 Comments

It was really freaking cold on Friday night – so cold that my base instincts kicked in and all I wanted was stew.

Well, I didn’t get stew, but I did get some stick-to-your-ribs food from The Cascade Room. It was reliably busy – and possibly busier than usual due to the fire at Habit – but not so busy that you couldn’t get a table without a reservation.

I think The Cascade makes the best negroni I’ve ever had. Their bartender, Nick Devine, is known for his mixological prowess – and I fully concur. The negroni came in a short glass with lots of ice, with a rosette of orange peel resting on top of the ice. The overall effect is that you taste the drink while getting the full, undiluted aroma of the orange peel. Genius.

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Posted in Restaurant reviews

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Heaven is made of chocolate caramel

Posted on December 15, 2008 | 2 Comments

I don’t do Christmas shopping. I hate shopping, I hate crowds, and I hate Christmas shopping. Ten years ago, I started doing edible gifts to supplement Christmas shopping, and now I do exclusively edible gifts. Everyone likes food. No one needs more crap.

This year’s selection consists of:

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Posted in Homemade

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Sangria, ole!

Posted on November 20, 2008 | 3 Comments

I had a glass of sangria tonight at Kino Cafe, which features some of the best flamenco I’ve ever seen.  (Yes, I’ve been to Spain, but bear in mind that I was 18 and probably didn’t appreciate the finer things in life.  However, I probably did like the sangria in Spain.)  Anyway, my point is that if you haven’t been to see flamenco dancing at Kino Cafe, you must go post-haste and check it out.  It’s awesome.  The food is satisfactory at best, but let’s face it – no one’s there for the food.

But, back to sangria.  My recipe for sangria includes a bottle of cheap wine (Naked Grape Shiraz is a good choice, since it’s not too sweet), a bottle of club soda, and one each of an orange, (pink) grapefruit, lemon and lime.  I find a lot of sangrias too sweet, so I like adding citrus fruit for a bit of tartness.  The other good thing about using citrus fruits is that they tend to release juice into the sangria, and not suck up wine tastiness.  If you use apples or pears, as some places do, you end up concentrating the wine in the fruit – which isn’t necessarily a bad thing, but it makes the actual sangria taste a little bit flat.  

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Posted in Homemade, Restaurant reviews

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Beets: they’re worth the work

Posted on November 3, 2008 | 4 Comments

One beautiful summer morning, I was standing in my kitchen peeling beets when my roommate walked in and asked what I thought about getting a new couch.  He had gone to IKEA the night before, and the couch he had been eyeing for months was finally on sale.  The only catch: it was white.  It was a giant, white couch.  Now, the whole time we were talking, he was puttering around making coffee and not watching what I was doing.  There was a certain poignancy to the moment when he looked at me, said the word “white”, and saw my hands and arms stained fuschia with day-glo beet juice. 

And that’s the thing with beets.  They’re sweet, delicious, and really good for you, but you better be prepared to clean up beet juice from places you never expected to find it.  Beet juice is tricky that way. 

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Posted in Homemade

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