Epic Fail: There will be Beer Pops

This started out as such an enthusiastic post. As you can read below, I had a great time making the pops, and was totally psyched to see how they came out. Little did I know of the epic fail coming my way... But before I tell you about that, please enjoy the naive beginnings to this post:

After reading this post on The Kitchn, I was totally intrigued by the idea of beer in popsicle form. I mean, everyone likes popsicles, and everyone likes beer (right?) so how can you go wrong joining the two. And with my birthday party just a day away, it seemed like the perfect way to blend getting older with a little childhood whimsy.

As for the versions on The Kitchn, I was a bit wary of the jagged edges of the can, and felt daunted by the massive size of the in-cup versions. So I created my own ice cube sized version.

I used the same recipe, 1 Tecate, 1 lime, 1 teaspoon of agave syrup, but after mixing thoroughly, I poured the liquid into ice cube trays. 4 beers filled 5 trays.

The biggest challenge of the ice cube beer pops was getting them onto the pop. I first tried a single layer of tin foil over the trays, but the popsicle sticks I used just tipped right over. I found that a double layer of foil supported the sticks much better. Eventually I ran out of popsicle sticks and starting using lollipop sticks I had left over from my last cake ball adventure. They worked so much better! I think because the paper sticks are lighter, it was much easier to get them to stand upright.

And that, my friends, is where my post ended. I froze those babies overnight, then trotted them off to share with my fellow revelers. I took this photo just before leaving the house. I was so proud of my creation. And so unaware of the disaster yet to come.

Cut to: my joint birthday party with my friend RW. I brought over about 40 beer pops, and we began to dig in. At first taste, the pops were kind of sour, which I first blew off as being a result of my freshly brushed teeth. So I powered through another. Not much better, but I was drinking a beer at the same time, so I again figured the taste (these HAD to be good!) was just being eclipsed by the beer. Finally on beer pop #3, RW and I were standing together in the kitchen contemplating the taste of our treats.

Me: "This tastes...strange."

RW: "Yeah. It tastes like...something...but I kind of don't want to tell you what it is. It might ruin it for you."

Me: "Um, I am pretty sure I know what you are thinking. They taste like..."

Both: "Puke."

Yes, I had made Pukesicles. Vompops. Popsicles that taste like vomit. I know-- so so so gross, right?

I believe the tragic mistake came in the imbalance of lime to agave syrup. There was enough lime to make the beer sour, but not enough agave to sweeten it up. The result: bile flavored beer.

When I shared this failure with my bestie J, she responded : "So you made popsicles that tasted like Winter Carnival at Middlebury?" Yes J, I did. I made popsicles that taste like revelry gone wrong, collegiate shame and poor choices.

Ah, what can I say? Not every culinary adventure is a win. But I am not deterred! I think this could actually work with hard cider...

But I am not going to lie, this was pretty traumatic. It might be a while before I attempt another alcohol-on-a-stick.

And speaking of eggplant...

Is Grimace an eggplant? As a kid, I never really pondered what Grimace was, but as an adult it has started to bother me.

Fry Guy? Ok, get that one. Hamburgler? Yup. Officer Big Mac? Pretty clear.

But Grimace? A purple McNugget? No way. He has got to be an eggplant. But obviously there isn't any eggplant on the McDonald's menu. Perhaps he is a holdover from a long lost menu item...Eggplant McParmesan?

WHAT ARE YOU GRIMACE?

Simple Eggplant Triumph

After work on Saturday I needed some vegetable QT. I haven't been cooking because of a fairly busy travel/work schedule, and the lack of fresh veggies in the house was getting to me.

So I hit up my favorite co-op, Wild Oats Market, in Williamstown.

I can always find staples and interesting new things to try in their produce department. Plus they have a really simple visual system in place for identifying local, organic and conventionally grown products. Orange = Local (and will also be labeled organic if grown that way), Green = Organic and Yellow = Conventional. Saturday I was not disappointed. I took home a tasty looking white peach, a green zebra tomato and finally an italian eggplant.

These lovely veggies are much more reasonably sized for a single-serving cook, not to mention their white and purple skins are just so pretty sitting in the kitchen! (Still not my photo...digi cam coming soon!)

Today I didn't have to work, so I decided to get a jump on the cooking for the week (something I always tell myself I will do...then never actually manage to. So go me.). I considered making pasta sauce or baba ghanoush but both of those things, while simple, still seemed like way too much work for a day off. So instead, I whipped up some quick eggplant dip/spread/mush of glory. And all took were 3 ingredients and 4 spices!

First, I had to prepare the the eggplant. If you don't want your eggplant to come out gummy, you have to draw out some of the natural moisture. For this recipe I chopped the eggplant into about 1 inch cubes, threw the whole mess into a colander and sprinkled it all with about a 1/2 Tbsp of salt. After tossing the eggplant together I left the colander resting over a bowl for about 20 minutes (or just the amount of time it took me to hand-wash the dishes). During that time, a liquid that looked suspiciously like whiskey collected in the bottom bowl. I bet there is something you could do with that liquid (my friends father bakes bread with veggie liquids!) but I was just not in the mood to do that round of googling tonight, so that went down the sink. I then rinsed the salt off of the eggplant and squeezed all of the water out of the veggie chunks. I mean, really really SQUEEEEEZED. Give your hands a workout, you will be happy later!

I heated about 2 Tbsp of olive oil in a non-stick skillet, then tossed in my well wrung-out eggplant. I added a bit of salt (just a bit! sometimes the eggplant stays a bit salty after the draining process), about a teaspoon of cumin, a dash of ground coriander and a dash of turmeric (turns the whole thing really yellow!). Finally I tossed in 2 roughly chopped cloves of garlic and cooked the whole thing just until it started to smell delicious.

After letting this yellow, garlicky tastiness cool for 5 or so minutes, I buzzed it all up in my small-sized food processor (which is mine courtesy of my mom's friend...who I am not sure knows that the food processor lives with me now). I drizzled in about a 1/4 cup of extra virgin olive oil until the texture was spreadable, but not exactly smooth.

Then I promptly toasted up two slices of Anadama bread from Cricket Creek Farm, grabbed a bit spoon and spread away. Helllllloooooo simple and delicious. Plus, an italian eggplant about the size of a softball gave me a cup and a half of spread, more than enough to last me through the week. Yay planning ahead!

Did you know...?

In the name shish kebab, it is actually the term shish that means "skewer," not kebab as we tend to assume. Kebab is actually more of a catch-all term referring to meat dishes that can be grilled, fried or roasted and consist of many different meats.

So...the next time someone tries to serve you a "fruit kebab," gently suggest that perhaps they should change the name to shish fruit.

Shish fruits for everyone!

Image from http://www.4u.co.nz/recipes/Recipe.aspx?RID=155

Oh, Canada!

True Confession: I don't own a digital camera.

Yup, I started a blog dedicated to food with no way to create my own food porn. What was I thinking?

Well, I was thinking that my birthday is coming up, and a digital camera is the only thing on my list, so hopefully it will also be in my hands in less than a month. In the mean time, I will rely on my friends with cameras, and posts that I can easily create senza camera.

And thus, the following review.

Those of you who are addicted to food related television will be familiar with the new kid on the block in foodvision: Cooking Channel. Replacing the Fine Living Network (but keeping late night Japanese Iron Chef--hooray!), Cooking Channel gives us food related programming "by food people, for food people." Well, I have been watching since the launch--about a month now--and I must say I have been enjoying the hipster little brother of the Food Network. Even if they do show way too much Giada.

The truth about Cooking Channel is that it is basically Food Network, but with Canadians. A quick cross reference of the "new" shows on Cooking Channel reveals that most of them have been seen in Canada for a little while now...which explains the Degrassi-style lilt in the accents of the new chefs. But our neighbors to the north have not disappointed, and I have collected a few of my new faves to share with you today.

First, we have Food Jammers. Three hipster buddies who like to wait a really really long time before they eat.

Ok, so the premise is a bit more complicated than that. Basically these guys try to make commonplace foods into JAMS.

As in, way cool versions of regular foods. For example: 3D Pizza. Instead of just a flat pizza, these crazy guys made a pizza staircase, a pizza dome and a pizza cube. WILD! Cooking tends to take a back seat in this show, mostly to trips to the hardware store and failed equipment tests. To be sure though, these guys really understand what goes into food creation on many levels from ingredients to chemical reactions to cooking equipment.

My fave thing about these guys is how incredibly hipster they are. But, because they are Canadian and Toronto based instead of Williamsburg based, there is something much less annoying about their hipster-hood. But they represent in the Goodwill tshirts, ironic trucker hat/mustache combos and totally unkempt hair. Oh, and the dog is named Brooklyn.

Overall, a super entertaining show. Kind of a cross between Good Eats, New Yankee Workshop and Myth Busters. Not a bad combo. One small complaint: They always talk about how hungry they are AT THE BEGINNING of the show. I don't think, if you are truly hungry, that you would wait to build an in-table griddle top to cook a burger. That probably took DAYS. Did they really wait DAYS to eat their burgers? Doubt it.

But as I mentioned overall, super fun.

Next up on the block: Everyday Exotic. The host of the show, Roger Mooking, picks an "obedient ingredient" for each episode, and includes it in at least two of the dishes he cooks.

I like this show in particular because he tends to use cooking techniques that are simple and universal, but challenges the viewer with his ingredient choices.

His cooking is mainly influenced by his Trinidadian roots, and often his ingredient choices are Caribbean classics. Recently I saw his episode on tamarind where he made lamb kebabs with tamarind sauce, and his own version of tamarind balls-- a Caribbean snack. I loved how easy the techniques were--the most difficult thing about these recipes would be FINDING packaged tamarind. His pantry is always beautifully stocked with spices and ingredients...but somewhat unrealistically for a single-serving cook myself.

Finally, Roger sings his own theme song. At first, this got quite an eye-roll from me. I equated this musical endeavor on par with Shaq rapping on the Shazam soundtrack. But I have to say, Roger is so upbeat and exciting that every time he segues into the final music (yes, he plays the CD player EVERY SHOW), I just can't help but be right there bopping with him... "When you come along with its always good for us...lets go on a journey, so much better when we TRUST!"

Ooops, sorry, got distracted by the catchy song for a minute.

So, if you like smiley people, Caribbean food and the occasional cheesy pop tune (wow, that sounds just like me), Everyday Exotic is your show.

Finally, we come to Chuck Hughes of Chuck's Day Off aka my new chef-lebrity crush.

On Chuck's Day Off, we see Chuck cooking for various people on the day his restaurant, Garde-Manger, is closed. He cooks for his tattoo artist, he cooks for his business partners, he cooks for the firemen who stopped the restaurant from burning down. WHEN WILL HE COOK FOR ME?

Ok, to be real, Chuck can be a bit much. His food does always look delicious, but I do cringe every time I see the ad where he proclaims "Passion has always been my favorite ingredient to cook with."

Gag.

But then I watch him make alphabet pasta risotto for the kid who lives upstairs. And I swoon again. Plus, he is bilingual (this Canadien is from Montreal) and from time to time you can hear a little French-Canadien accent slip out. SO dreamy. And he has food tattoos. Like "Bacon" and "Arugula" tattooed on his wrists. And sleeves of shrimp and lobster. I love it--kind of a bad boy, kind of a huge food dork. So Chuck, if you read this, give me a call. Also, we both have gaps in our teeth, so we would be totally cute together.

There are many more great new shows on the Cooking Channel, but these three have become some of my new go-tos. If you haven't given it a try, it is worth it for the new and fresh perspectives and personalities. Plus, Cooking Channel shows The French Chef in the afternoons...how can you beat that?

all photos courtesy of www.cookingchannel.com

The Bar Post-Bar

I had many great intentions of getting my second post up and running over my luxurious Martha's Vineyard vacation, but due to spotty internet and a disappointing experience with blogger on my mom's iPad, I am only now getting around to posting. While a lobster laden post is on deck, today I plan to deal with one of my other most favorite consumables: cocktails.

My dear friend A. came to visit me in my humble Northern Berkshire homestead after completing what may be the cruelest standardized test known to man: the bar exam. Two days (in some places THREE!) of straight law-ing.

And you have to raise your hand to go to the bathroom.

While I thought the GRE Literature Subject test was truly cruel and unusual punishment (has anyone actually read Sir Gawain and the Green Knight?) from the sound of it, the bar really reaches a new level of torture. So when A. arrived in town, he was a bit...frazzled. And of course the best remedy for frazzlement has always been a good cocktail.

We had celebratory reservations at Mezze Bistro + Bar in Williamstown, not just to partake in their lovely bar offerings, but also to take in the new location on Rt. 7. A. and I fondly refer to this space as the New New Mezze, because this is in fact the third space Mezze has occupied in the last 10 years. While the food was lovely (if awkwardly plated in sloping bowls--I'm looking at you roasted beets) what really stood out were the cocktails.

A. treated himself to a Citadelle gin martini with two olives. The cocktail was crisp and cold, with a smoothness that can be lacking in gin martinis (ok, cheap gin martinis). Two olives added just enough extra brininess to give the cocktail some additional intrigue. Expertly mixed.



As for me, I chose my favorite cocktail: a French 75. For those unfamiliar, this cocktail is a heavenly blend of champagne, lemon juice, simple syrup and gin. I had my very first French 75 at Old New Mezze last summer at the coaxing of my friend R., and I really have not been able to order anything else at Mezze since. Gin and lemons are of course old buddies, but the masterstroke addition of crisp champagne makes for a cocktail that is not only refreshing and delicious but also fun and festive. The perfect celebration cocktail. But beware! More than one of these drinks and you will be pouring yourself into bed early!



We enjoyed our beverages on Mezze's porch, surrounded by the serene beauty of the Berkshires. The hostess was very friendly; she let us languish on the porch enjoying our cocktails then sat us at our leisure.

As I mentioned, the food was very tasty as well. A. had the ribeye and I had the homemade tagliatelle, but the true stars of the evening were those cocktails. A perfect end to a hard two days, and a perfect beginning to a lovely night.

Gotta Start Somewhere

So I thought I would start at the beginning:

I was almost named Cinnamon.

Yes, my mother, in all of her infinite wisdom, almost named her daughter Cinnamon.

She obviously didn't consider that being named after a spice would either turn me into a hippie or a stripper. Luckily she met another little girl named Cinnamon just before I was born, and decided that since it was no longer original, it was also no longer worth the potentially life altering trauma. I would like to thank The Original Cinnamon for taking that burden upon herself. I owe you one.

And yet...

There is something distinctly intriguing about being named after a food. I am currently reading Five Quarters of the Orange which features such luscious food names as Framboise, Cassis and Pistache (it takes place in France), and I find myself thinking about having a little Pamplemousse of my own someday...ok, ok, not really. But, for a person who loves food, like myself, there is something kind of cosmic about having (or almost having) a food name. Like you have been fated to love to eat, cook and think food. So, while I may not be Cinnamon by name, part of me feels like my brush with food naming may have kickstarted my loved for all things edible. And hence, this little blog.

Here I plan to post about food I cook and eat, my various food musings and of course general praise and criticism for the food related things in my life. I hope you enjoy, and I hope to hear from you if you care to correspond.

So, happy eating to us all, and talk to you soon!

xo,
C