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May 2009
Blogger recipe: Lisa is Cooking’s favorite sugar cookies
Lisa Lawless doesn’t post many recipes on her food blog Lisa is Cooking, but when she does, it’s worth your while to file them away. Lawless usually creates (and beautifully photographs) dishes from magazines, cookbooks or food books and does a thorough job of explaining the ins and outs of how she made it. She has a keen eye for good food. A post earlier this year about a tart with greens, goat cheese and currants inspired my own greens-and-cheese tart that I took to a food blogger potluck earlier this month. Lawless brought a strawberry tart and sugar cookies to share with fellow food bloggers.
Her Texas-shaped cookies were made with the Ethel’s Sugar Cookies recipe her mom got out of a 1960s version of the Betty Crocker Cookbook. Lawless says this is the tried-and-true recipe that she will always use, even though the new Betty Crocker books include a different sugar cookie recipe.
Lawless says one of the keys to making the perfect sugar cookie is to pull them out of the oven at the exact second they are done. Any brown on the bottom or corners won’t do. As for the icing, Lawless is a fan of Martha Stewart’s royal icing (1 cup confectioners’ sugar, 1 egg white, 3 or 4 drops of freshly squeezed lemon juice mixed together until smooth and creamy. Add more sugar is it’s too runny.)
Ethel’s Sugar Cookies
2 1/2 cup flour
1 tsp. baking powder
1 tsp. salt
3/4 cup butter
1 cup sugar
2 eggs
1/2 tsp. vanilla
Sift flour, baking powder and salt into a medium mixing bowl. Cream together butter and sugar, add eggs and vanilla and mix until light and fluffy. Add dry ingredients a little at a time and mix until combined. Refrigerate overnight.
When you’re ready to make the cookies, pre-heat oven to 400 degrees. Roll out dough and cut cookies. Bake for six minutes for medium-sized cookies.
(Photo by Lisa Lawless)
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Pachanga co-founder, drummer Alex Vallejo: What’s in Your Fridge Friday?
Alex Vallejo, whose festival takes place tomorrow at Fiesta Gardens, is a Cavender’s-loving drummer (he plays in Vallejo, a project he started with his brothers) who will spend tomorrow making sure the second annual Pachanga festival goes off without a hitch.
Grab a ticket and get ready to dance off all that queso you’ve been eating with three stages of bands, including local favorites Maneja Beto, Brownout and David Garza, and big stars Cordero and Mexican Institute of Sound.
If the music, food, crafts and Annie Ray photo booth aren’t enough action for your family, Vallejo, along with several other musicians, will be hosting musical demonstrations for kids on Saturday afternoon.
What are three things always in your fridge? Some kind of hot sauce, those fresh tortillas the ladies at HEB make & avocado. What can I say? I’m Latino to the bone.
What is your favorite condiment? Cavender’s Greek Seasoning. I really love to grill when we’re at home and it pretty much works on everything from grilled veggies to chicken and steaks.
What is your late night snack? Basically everything. Anything from popcorn and beer to candy and peanut butter sandwiches. When my wife Monica wakes up in the morning, she says it looks like I had a slumber party.
I’m always on the hunt for interesting refrigerators. If you want to show off yours, take a photo of it (please resist the urge to clean or rearrange) and send it to abroyles@statesman.com.
(Photos courtesy of Alex Vallejo)
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Diana Kennedy signs with UT Press
For more than 50 years, she has been studying, cooking and writing about Mexican food, giving her a culinary expertise matched by few other chefs or authors. Her books include the 1989 classic “The Art of Mexican Cooking,” which was recently reiussed, “The Essential Cuisines of Mexico” and “From My Mexican Kitchen.”
For much of the past decade, Kennedy has been focusing on the region of Oaxaca for “Oaxaca al Gusto,” which at 400 pages, is a tome of a reference book that was first published in Spanish in Mexico last year.
Kennedy, who lives in Michoacan, Mexico, is pushing 90 and still going strong. UT Press sponsoring editor Casey Kittrell, who is working closely with Kennedy on this book, says she took many of the photos herself as she was researching.
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Celebrating Relish Austin’s first b-day with Canadian nachos
What do you make your blog on its first birthday?
Even though I’ve been drooling over Baked lately, I didn’t have it in me over the long weekend to bake a cake or a cupcake or even a cakeball for that matter to, in my own cheesy way, celebrate this ever-forming blog, all 366 posts of it. From the bad to the good, it’s been a crazy year, and tending to this blog has been as fun as tending my own garden. It is one of the most enjoyable and fulfilling parts of my job.
So I killed two birds with one throwed roll.
Ian, who very well could be the best cook in the house, made fettuccine alfredo, followed by Canadian nachos (one of Ian’s favorites from his Calgary days: cheese melted on tortilla chips, served with generic salsa and, if you’re really getting fancy, chives), for our first anniversary, which happens to coincide with the time last May that I started Relish Austin.
Thanks to all of you for reading and being brave enough to open your fridges, and a special truffle goes to those of you who leave comments. They make my day.
Thanks for reading.
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Whole Foods launches delivery by bike
Get Whole Foods. Delivered. By bike.
Starting on Wednesday, you can have lunch or dinner from the flagship Whole Foods Market store downtown delivered to your home or office by bike for a fee of $5 (free for orders over $50).
The delivery menu includes salads (Caesar, spinach, garden; $3.99-$4.49), chips (99 cents) sandwiches (turkey, roast beef, ham, caprese, burgers; $6.99-7.49), pastas (alfredo, marinara, peso; $8.99 to $10.00), pizzas (cheese, pepperoni, meat trio, veggie; 16” for $13.99), barbecue (wrap or sandwich; $3.99-$4.99) and dessert (cookies for 99 cents, brownies for $1.79), but spokesperson Elizabeth Smith says the menu might change if customers are interested in other foods from the store.
The delivery area is from Martin Luther King Jr. Blvd to Cesar Chavez, Mo-Pac to Interstate 35, and tipping bikers is accepted but not expected, Smith says. Call 542-2243 between 8 a.m. and 5 p.m. to place your order.
Whole Foods is hosting a “Kickstand Kickoff” this afternoon — free food and all — from 5:30 to 8 p.m. at the culinary center on the corner of 6th Street and Bowie.
(Photo courtesy of Whole Foods Market)
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Pollan, Schlosser delve deep into food industry in “Food Inc.”
The dirty laundry of the modern food system has been hanging on the clothesline for all to see for a while, or at least in the mainstream since author Eric Schlosser’s “Fast Food Nation” and Michael Pollan’s “Omnivore’s Dilemma” became best-sellers in recent years. Documentaries including “Supersize Me,” “The Future of Food” and “King Corn” also have shed light on the perils of genetically modified seeds and agribusiness.
In “Food, Inc.,” a film from director Robert Kenner that comes out next month, Schlosser and Pollan explain yet again how the corporation-controlled food industry hurts farmers, the environment and American’s health. The film will be distributed nationally, starting June 19 in Austin at the Regal Arbor Cinema and Alamo Ritz theaters. Get a sneak preview and talk with Kenner and Schlosser at a special screening and locally sourced dinner at 7 p.m. on Monday at the Alamo Drafthouse on South Lamar Boulevard.
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Ramen noodles and The Maneater
The Maneater student newspaper had spread the word even before we moved on campus that if you were a serious journalism student, theirs was the newspaper you wanted to work at before you actually entered J-school (typically your junior year).
The eager beaver I was/am, I popped into the newsroom before the classes started and picked up an assignment: a grocery story-by-grocery store price comparison of foods that typically comprise a college student’s diet. I gathered my data and surreptitiously took pictures with my, gasp, SLR camera (whose film I would later develop in The Maneater’s photo lab that would only be in use another two years). I was proud to show off my first story but even prouder when it was picked as the “story of the week” (for the first and only time in four often rowdy years at the paper) at The Maneater’s auditorium-filled first official news meeting.
I’ve been reading UT graduation tweets today and thinking about college and all it means in our lives, from the 40 pounds we gain and can’t seem to shake off to the late-night pizzaPokey Stix runs, croissant-fueled trips through Europe and mid-morning brunches. Not only can see where the 40 pounds comes from, but also where our relationships with food bloom.
So, graduates, congratulations and may the Ramen be with you.
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Texas Monthly food editor Pat Sharpe: What’s in Your Fridge Friday?
The James Beard-nominated chef knows that Sharpe is not only a James Beard-winning writer (she won for her 2005 story “Confessions of a Skinny Bitch”), but she’s also one of the most respected restaurant critics in the country. She’s been writing (and now blogging) about food for Texas Monthly magazine for longer than many of the up-and-coming chefs she writes about have been alive, and from her elegant writing style, it’s clear that food is more than just about how good (or bad) a dish tastes.
As you can imagine for someone who eats out as much as she does, Sharpe’s fridge is sparse, yet calculated. She’s been devouring hamburgers across the state for Texas Monthly’s August cover story, but in a few weeks, you can read an article she wrote about New Zion Missionary Baptist Church’s barbecue joint in Huntsville for Saveur’s June/July issue, which is dedicated to Texas.
(Full disclosure that’s going to sound like bragging: Who knows if I would have ever gotten in to food writing if not for Sharpe. Just before graduating from Mizzou, I was her intern, calling up cafes specializing in home-style food and sorting through reviews by former Statesman critic Dale Rice and Houston Chronicle critic Alison Cook. My first, albeit short, glimpse at the world of food writing. Thanks, Pat.)
What three things are always in you fridge? whole milk, almonds, some form of take-out from Mandola’s Italian Market (frequently Sicilian tomato salad)
What’s your favorite condiment? pico de gallo
What restaurant dish do you most wish you could recreate at home? Dough Pizzeria’s heavenly house-made mozzarella cheese (they’re in San Antonio and worth a trip)
I’m always on the hunt for interesting refrigerators. If you want to show off yours, take a photo of it (please resist the urge to clean or rearrange) and send it to abroyles@statesman.com.
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Wine, sushi and laser tag meet at Austin Wine Festival
If the buzz from the Texas Hill Country Wine and Food Festival has worn off, it might be time to hit up the Austin Wine Festival, an event at the Domain in North Austin in its third year that features three dozen Texas wineries. The three-day festival that starts on Saturday is the first event of its kind in Texas where you can buy bottles of wine on site.
Enjoy live music on Saturday night by Micky and the Motorcars. Restaurants from the Domain will be serving food, including sushi, pizza, sliders, cheese plates and chocolate. There’s also a kids’ area with an outdoor laser tag and mobile video game theater.
Tickets, which include 10 wine tastings, are $20 per day if purchased in advance online. The cost is $10 per day for designated drivers and 16-to-20-year-olds, free for kids 15 and younger. Tickets available online.
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Crawfish to overtake Fredericksburg, Hill Country
This weekend, there likely will be more crawfish than people in all of the Hill Country as the Fredericksburg Crawfish Festival gets under way on at 6 p.m. on Friday. Louisiana favorites, from gumbo and boudin to, of course, crawfish, as well as American and German culinary staples will be served Friday night until midnight and Saturday from 11 a.m. to midnight at the Market Square in downtown Fredericksburg.
Live music, arts, crafts and even a rock wall should keep kids and adults entertained. $6 adults, $1 for kids 12 and younger. Two-day passes are $10. (Starting at 8 p.m. Saturday, tickets are $10. ) For more information and to buy tickets, go to the Web site or call 830-997-8515.
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More proof I’m no Martha Stewart
When talking about food blogging, I always claim to blog about my missteps in the kitchen, but I don’t think I’ve actually documented a full-blown failure like the one I created/experienced last weekend.
The rain on Saturday had me in a baking mood, so I put together a pizza dough for the food blogger potluck and then embarked on a mission to recreate these beautiful buttermilk fantails that Boots in the Oven made from a Gourmet recipe.
Problem was, I made the dough on Saturday, including all the rounds of rising, but realized I wanted to serve them freshly baked on Sunday. So I assembled the fantails, covered them with a kitchen towel and put them in the fridge. By the time I put them in the oven the next morning, I knew I wasn’t going to get the fluffy beautiful fantails my friends had produced.
Sure enough, I pulled them out and they were pretty pitiful looking fantails. After photographing them and realizing no respectable foodie would serve them at a food blogger potluck, I opened up a jar of honey and dug in. They were C- fantails at best, but honey makes even the worst baked goods seem indulgent.
Speaking of failures, I might as well show off a few of my less-than-blogworthy garden follies.
I accidentally broke off about half of the leaves on our zucchini plants when trying to remove the tomato cage I had placed on the plant when it was just a sproutling. I wasn’t sure the plant would survive with half its leaves gone, but a week later, it’s appearing strong and we’ve harvested two zucchinis, so I guess the damage isn’t as bad as I thought it would be.
Garden bugs ate nearly all of one of the kohlrabi plants, as well as many of the broccoli leaves. I think this particular kohlrabi plant isn’t going to make it, but we ate the broccoli floret this week. (More on that later…)
But, overall, we’re pretty happy with how the garden is coming along, bugs, ants, broken leaves, cilantro that’s gone to seed and all.
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Talk online cookbooks, grilling with chef David Bull
Today at 1 p.m., join me and the James-Beard nominated (and ‘Iron Chef’-defeated) chef David Bull in a live chat on Relish Austin. We’ll talk about his new interactive cookbook (his first solo cookbook!), life at the Driskill, summer grilling, ‘Iron Chef’ and when we can expect him back in a Central Texas kitchen besides his own.
From today’s Food Matters:
Even though chef David Bull left the Driskill Hotel in 2007 to oversee the culinary operations at the renovated Stoneleigh Hotel in Dallas and the St. Anthony Hotel in San Antonio, he never left Central Texas. Bull and his wife, who is expecting their fifth child, have called Manor home for the past five years, and it’s where Bull put together and tested many of the recipes in his first solo cookbook, “Bull’s Eye on Food,” an interactive venture available online only ($35 for a yearlong subscription, Keeper Collection).
Home cooks can search and sort the 80 recipes, read stories behind their creation and organize a shopping list through the site, which also features videos of Bull explaining cooking techniques. “You can’t impart that level of information in a book,” says Bull, who will be adding dishes, including seasonal grilling and holiday recipes, as the year progresses. “You can get a hardcover for life, but it doesn’t change. ‘Bull’s Eye on Food’ will become my database for all of my recipes.”
If all goes well, Austinites soon will get to enjoy Bull’s cooking in real life again. As chef-partner of LaCorsha Hospitality Group, Bull says he will be working on the planned Seaholm Plaza Hotel near South Lamar Boulevard as the project gets under way next year.
Yellow Tomato Gazpacho with Jicama Hot Stix
This summery vegetarian soup is a good way to use up all those fresh tomatoes from the market or your garden. Bull says that of the thousands of ways you can prepare gazpacho, he prefers this one, which has a chunky feel in the mouth, thanks to the diced vegetables.
For gazpacho:
8 yellow tomatoes, quartered 4 cloves garlic, smashed 1/3 cup cucumbers, peeled, seeded and diced large 1/3 cup baguette, torn into large pieces 1/4 cup extra virgin olive oil 2 Tbsp. sherry vinegar 1/4 tsp. sea salt 1 large jalapeño, seeded and minced 2 tsp. cilantro, finely chopped 2 cups cucumber, small diced 2 cups red onion, finely chopped 4 Tbsp. lime juice
For JÃcama Hot Stix:
1 jicama, cut into 1/4-inch by 3-inch sticks 1 tsp. arbol chiles, toasted and ground 1 Tbsp. cilantro, finely chopped 2 Tbsp. lime juice 1/2 tsp. sea salt, to taste 8 sprigs cilantro, for garnish
Place the yellow tomatoes, garlic, cucumber, bread, extra-virgin olive oil, sherry vinegar and salt in a medium bowl and marinate in the refrigerator overnight. Place everything from the bowl into a blender, purée until smooth and strain through a fine mesh sieve. Transfer the purée from the blender to a mixing bowl and combine with the jalapeños, cilantro, cucumber and red onion. Add lime juice to the mixture and season with salt to taste.
For Jicama Hot Stix, combine in a large bowl the jicama sticks, ground arbol chile, cilantro and lime juice and season with salt to taste. Ladle equal portions of the gazpacho into chilled soup bowls. Place the jicama sticks into the soup and garnish with sprigs of cilantro. Serves 8.
- David Bull, ‘Bull’s Eye on Food’
(soup photo by Mark Knight)
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Cupcakes from Down Under at Sugar Mama’s
The two met each other through Twitter after both were featured on the New York-based blog Cupcakes Take the Cake. They struck up a virtual friendship and less than a year later, Pryles trekked to Austin for a week of guest baking at O’Neal’s South First Street bakery.
For five days starting Tuesday of next week, Pryles will serve some of her signature Australian treats, including the malt chocolate ball-based Malteser cupcake (top right), the Cuban cocktail-inspired Mojiteaux cupcake (top left) and cookies made with wattleseed (above), which comes from the national flower of Australia.
No Vegemite cupcakes, Pryles promised.
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Texas Best Barbeque Sauce is back on shelves
For years, the smoky, not-too-sweet sauce based on an Austin family recipe was one of the top-selling sauces in the country, says Alen Smith, whose great-aunt got the recipe from a teen who worked at her house in Austin in the 1930s. Smith was just 13 when he learned the recipe. He got the company off the ground in the late 1970s and eventually sold it.
Years after Smith sold the company, things went downhill and the sauce was pulled from grocery store shelves. In 2007, Smith bought the company back, and the famous sauce ($3.99), rub ($5.99) and hot sauce ($1.79) are available at H-E-B and several other large retailers again. “We brought it back to the way it originally was,” Smith says.
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Free beer to help open Black Sheep Lodge, El Chile
Nothing like free booze to draw folks in to a new restaurant.
Two new restaurants — if you count El Chile’s third location downtown as new — are serving up complimentary drinks as they await full licensing from the state:
After a few coats of paint and some renovations, El Chile took over the location of its taco-focused little brother El Chilito on North Congress earlier this month, and it is offering complimentary beer or wine until the liquor license is established in a few weeks. (Open Monday from 11 a.m. to 4 p.m., Tuesday through Thursday 11 a.m. to 9 p.m., Friday and Saturday 11 a.m. to 10 p.m. and closed Sunday.)
Also serving complimentary drinks as it waits for a liquor license is Black Sheep Lodge, which opened over the weekend at 2108 S. Lamar Blvd. Serving smart pub food such as Gorgonzola sliders, wings, sandwiches, sweet potato fries, Black Sheep has a full bar, several big screen TVs, darts, pool and a dog-friendly patio. (Open 11 a.m. to midnight, 11 p.m. to 1 a.m. on Saturdays.)
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Food blogger potluck, the sequel
For the second time in as many months, Austin food bloggers gathered to share food and foodraderie on Sunday at Soup Peddler David Ansel’s house. This meant, as you would presume, great food and lots of people taking pictures of it.
Boned chicken stuffed with crawfish, shrimp and boudin straight from Louisiana was the star of the first act (a ham leg stole the show after round one), along with tarts, enchiladas, fried pork ribs, potato salad, mini sandwiches made with strawberries and pea shoots and a one killer Caesar salad. Desserts filled an entire table: strawberry tart and strawberry cream cake, fruit “cupcakes,” blondies, brownies, pecan tarts and cupcakes, including Jennie Chen of Miso Hungry’s Irish Car Bomb cupcakes.
Like the food, there were too many good people to mention them all, but I want to give a special shout-out to Michael Chu of the Cooking for Engineers, who after establishing his nationally known blog in San Francisco, moved Austin three weeks ago. Glad to see him and April Woods of The Hungry Engineer, bottom left, getting along so well.
So what did I bring? Last time it was lamb and blue cheese on endive; for this potluck, the rainy Saturday put me in the mood to bake, so I made some pizza dough and created a chard (from my backyard!) and queso fresco pizza inspired by this post by Lisa Lawless of Lisa is Cooking.
The good food is just a perk. Knowing and befriending these bloggers is the real fun.
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Austin one of few stops on USDA animal identification tour
The Department of Agriculture is hosting seven so-called “listening sessions” across the country on the proposed National Animals Identification System (NAIS). One of those stops is from 9 a.m. to 4 p.m. on Wednesday at the Embassy Suites Hotel (5901 N. Interstate 35, registration is at 8 a.m.).
From the amount of attention this issue has been getting, don’t be surprised to see more than a handful of farmers and activists taking a stand against this plan that would require every livestock animal, from pasture raised lamb to backyard chickens to be tagged. I wrote about some of the aspects of the proposed system in a Relish Austin column last month.
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Carol Ann Sayle talks chickens at Natural Gardener on Saturday
Boggy Creek Farm’s Carol Ann Sayle is an urban chicken guru of Austin, and she’s hosting what has become a free annual seminar (in its fourth year!) on raising backyard chickens at the Natural Gardener at 9 a.m. on Saturday.
From the Web site:
Chickens not only provide tasty, nutritious eggs, but they are also great pets: interesting, communicative, smart in their own way, and very humorous! The topics to be covered include: recommended size of flock, breeds of layers and their attributes, starting new chicks, feed sources, hen house design, chicken tractors, predators, roosters, and more! Knowing Carol Ann and the subject matter, this class is sure to please even the mildest chicken-lover!
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Austin Farmers’ Market expands, but parking is still free
The Austin Farmers’ Market has grown to nearly 70 vendors, says Suzanne Santos, market director of the Sustainable Food Center, which means that the market has expanded from four rows to six rows. With Republic Square Park on the border of one side, the market had to expand into the surface parking lot, which means that the free parking in the surface lot is no longer available on Saturday mornings.
That doesn’t mean you can’t park for free at the downtown market, however. Santos wanted to remind people that there are 650 free parking spaces in the state parking garage next to the market (enter the garage on San Antonio Street). You can even park in the ones marked “reserved” on Saturday mornings.
With the new vendors, the number of farmers now totals 41, Santos says, and some of them have blueberries and peaches for sale. Plums will be in a few weeks.
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The Carillon chef Josh Watkins: What’s in Your Fridge Friday?
Last year, Watkins took over the massive dining operation at the AT&T Executive Education and Conference Center, which houses half a dozen restaurants, including his baby, The Carillon, a fine dining establishment he will get to focus on starting in September.
Watkins is a fun-loving guy, wakeboarding when he’s not in the kitchen and playing around with fellow chefs at the end of fancy events like the Stars Across Texas dinner at the Hill Country Wine and Food Fest. But his food is serious, as it seems is his love for pickles and Cheez-Its. That’s my kind of chef.
What three things are always in your fridge? Voss sparkling water, pickled everything, citrus, triple cream cheeses
What’s your favorite condiment? Cholula hot sauce
What’s your go-to late night snack? Cheez-its
I’m always on the hunt for interesting refrigerators. If you want to show off yours, take a photo of it (please resist the urge to clean or rearrange) and send it to abroyles@statesman.com.
(Fridge photo by Josh Watkins, mug shot from AT&T Executive Education and Conference Center)
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Potlucks, taco tours and more in E. Austin this weekend
East Austin is the epicenter for foodie things to do this weekend:
East Austin Taco Bike Tour: Tasty Touring and Taco Journalism have teamed up for a bike tour of a handful of East Austin taco joints. It’s a self-guided tour, and you can RSVP on Facebook. Organizers Jodi Bart and Mando Rayo say a main group of folks will start at Porfirio’s at 11 a.m. and end up at El Chilito for drinks. Here’s a map of the taco places they will be hitting.
Party on the Vanguard: Salvage Vanguard Theater is hosting its second annual “celebration of arts on the edge” with a party at the Manor Road venue at 8 p.m. on Saturday. Check out music, performances and (free!) food from Graham Reynolds (Golden Arm Trio), Ellen Bartel (Spank Dance), Gnap! Theater Projects, Trouble Puppet Theater, interactive graffiti art, The Wierd Weeds, Salvage Unreeled video installation, DJ Chicken Kiev, Cafe Mundi and El Chile! Admission $10 at the door.
Slow Food Spring Supper Potluck: At 5 p.m. on Sunday, join the Slow Food Austin group for its monthly slow session, where folks get together to eat, greet and talk local, homemade and traditional food. This month, they are hosting a free potluck at Greengate Farm in East Austin. Bring a dish, a blanket or chairs and a beverage of choice to Greengate Farm (8310 Canoga Ave.) and get to know members of the slow food community in Austin.
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Free breakfast if you bike to work on Friday
Free breakfast might just be the motivation you need to get you on your bike Friday as part of Austin Cycling Association’s Bike to Work Day. Here are a list of some of the breakfast stops, and here’s a map of the locations.
• Whole Foods (525 N. Lamar Blvd.) • One Texas Center (505 Barton Springs Road) • City Hall Plaza (301 W. Second St.) • Bike Texas (1902 E. Sixth St.) • Mellow Johnny’s (400 Nueces St.) • Wheatsville Co-op (3101 Guadalupe St.) • Bicycle Sport Shop (517 S. Lamar Blvd.) • Freewheeling Bicycles (2401 San Gabriel St.) • Orange Bike Project and Longhorn Po-boys (Speedway between Dean Keeton and 21st streets) • The Peddler and Texas Culinary Academy (119 E. North Loop Blvd.) • Shoal Creek Boulevard at Far West Boulevard right of way (across from Northwest Park) • Music City Cycles (6301 W. Parmer Lane) • El Chilito (2219 Manor Road)
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My two cents on ‘Julie & Julia’
Sure “Star Trek” just came out and wowed everybody, even the non Trekkies, and there will probably be another four “X-Men” movies released by the end of summer, but by all the talk in the food community, you’d think there was only one movie coming out this year that matters.
“Julie & Julia” won’t be released until August 7, but foodies have been buzzing about it since they found out former Austinite Julie Powell’s blog-turned-book would be adapted for the big screen by Nora Ephron and that no less than Meryl Streep herself would play Julia Child. Rising star Amy Adams was booked as Powell, and the hysteria began.
A little more about the movie: Powell hated her job in New York, and as a way to give herself a purpose, she started a blog to chronicle cooking all 524 recipes in Julia Child’s “Mastering the Art of French Cooking” in one year. After a lot of cursing and aspic, Powell finished her task and eventually got a book deal, which then made its way to Hollywood and into the hands of Ephron.
Journalist-turned-chef Michael Ruhlman has seen is and says he loves Streep’s performance as Julia. They are already preselling a copy of Powell’s book with the actors on the cover. Director Nora Ephron apparently ran into Streep on the street and told her she was working on the script; Streep launched into her Julia Child impression and the deal was sealed.
I haven’t seen the movie, but as part of a book club earlier this year, I read the book, and much to my surprise, I was one of the only people in the club who actually liked it. Powell, who grew up in Austin and whose family still lives here, started this project in 2002, when blogs weren’t quite the universal force they are now. The idea of cooking every recipe from Julia Child’s “Mastering the Art of French Cooking” in a year and blogging about it wasn’t as gimmicky as it would be if started today because no one was doing that kind of thing way back then.
Her strong blogging voice didn’t translate into the book, my fellow book clubbers said. It wasn’t the best written book I’d ever read, but it certainly wasn’t the worst. Women authors, especially those who start as bloggers, don’t get near the respect of their male counterparts. Instead of being “witty” or “edgy,” Powell was “annoying” or “contrived.”
From the looks of it, Amy Adams won’t have quite the sailor’s mouth or affinity for gin vodka gimlets that Powell does/did in the book, but the way Ephron appears to be weaving the two storylines together seems fantastic. Eat Me Daily is upset because now Julia Child has to share the screen with some lowly blogger and won’t get her own full-length feature. This echoes some of the criticism during the book club meeting: Child is too grand, too great a character to be the subject of such a frivolous project, book and now movie.
I couldn’t disagree more. Child was an institution for decades in the form of both her cookbooks and her shows, but where is Child now? She passed away while Powell was writing her book and never officially chimed in on what she thought of the blog project. Her shows aren’t airing a hundred times a week on television. She doesn’t have new cookbooks coming out. Think all that Jacques Pepin and Auguste Escoffier did for cooking, but how many of them will be a household name in ten years?
I think that Powell’s experience in many ways embodies what Child set out to accomplish. Wasn’t Child preaching empowerment in the kitchen? Then why would she have any objection to a depressed worker bee rediscovering herself by learning to make French food that no one eats anymore? Wasn’t the love of food what saved Child, too?
Powell’s “year of cooking dangerously” has reinvigorated Child’s legacy so it can inspire a new generation of cooks. What better way to honor such an extraordinary woman.
(Photo from Columbia Pictures)
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A quiet opening today for Natural Grocers near UT campus
The Colorado-based Natural Grocers is set to open its first Austin location this week at 3901 Guadalupe St., just north of the University of Texas campus, but the big grand opening party isn’t until a week from today.
The store, which has 32 locations in three states, sells only organic produce, growth hormone-free milk, antibiotic-free meat and food that is free of preservatives, trans fats, hydrogenated oils and artificial coloring and sweeteners. It also has a bulk section and specializes in vitamins and supplements.
On Tuesday, May 19, the store will host a grand opening with a free barbecue, raffle and specials. The store will officially be open from 9 a.m. to 8 p.m. Mondays through Fridays, 9 a.m. to 7 p.m. Saturdays and 11 a.m. to 6 p.m. Sundays. I say officially because the publicist made a point to note that they aren’t firm on those hours, so if it’s 7:59 p.m. and you need to pop in, they aren’t going to kick you out.
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So much for eating less meat
Last week, I wrote about cutting back on the amount of meat in my family’s diet. And then what do we go and do? Host a hot dog taste test party for a story next week, which left my boys and our guests grumbling about how much unidentified meat we’d put into our digestive tracts.
There was a time in my life when I couldn’t eat hot dogs. I was in college and as close to a vegetarian as I’ll probably ever be. I vowed to eat only sustainable meat from local sources, and we didn’t have hot dogs at the farmers’ markets that fit that description (Suzanne Santos of the Austin Farmers’ Market says you can buy all-beef dogs from Homestead Land & Cattle Co. at the Austin market).
My diet was evolving, but it was my approach to cooking that was changing even more. I experimented with grains such as bulghur, quinoa and millet. I finally learned how to cook real vegetables, not just shelf-stable ones out of a can. I relied on my secondhand copy of Mollie Katzen’s “The Enchanted Broccoli Forrest” when I ran out of ideas, which lead me to even more complicated things like baking my own bread.
Eating sustainably raised meat was making me a better cook and more adventurous eater.
Which is funny when you consider I spent most of Saturday grilling a food item that has gained a reputation for being both cheap, unimaginative and made from parts of animals we don’t want to think about.
Now I have all these leftover dogs and only a few ideas for what to do with them. Through Twitter, my food writing compadres Robin Davis and Warren Rojas gave me a few ideas. Robin had not one but two hot dog soup recipes. Warren pointed me to this recipe for salchipapas or french fries with hot dog sausages. My Twitter peep Prentiss Riddle (@pzriddle) said his mom used to make Weenie Chop Suey with hot dogs, celery, rice and soy sauce.
I haven’t whipped out my childhood favorite, the octodog, but I’ll be sure to take pictures of it when I do.
You’ll have to wait until next week to find out which of the 15 kinds of hot dogs won the taste test, but in the mean time, what’s your favorite way to eat a hot dog? Are you loyal to a certain brand?
A quick note about what we pay for food that didn’t make it into last week’s story: Americans have gotten used to food being cheap. We pay less of our annual income on food than almost anyone else in the world, according to U.S. Department of Agriculture.
The great news is that even in this down economy and with the higher cost of sustainable meat, which I’m well aware is what it takes to cover the farmers’ costs to raise the animals, more consumers than ever are interested in locally sourced meat.
The Sustainable Food Center just announced that last Saturday was the highest grossing market day they’ve ever had. Customers spent more than $30,000 buying local products, produce and meat.
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Learn about Thai cooking and Tipsy cocktails
Jam Sanitchat, owner of Thai Fresh on West Mary and blogger behind Thai Cooking with Jam, has teamed up with David Alan and Joe Eifler, aka The Tipsy Texans, for a Thai food and cocktail class at 6:30 p.m. on Thursday.
They offered a preview class last week to work out the kinks, and offered several food bloggers the chance to be guinea pigs.
Jam, who first started serving food at the Sunset Valley Farmers’ Market, uses local produce and meat whenever possible in both her cooking classes and the restaurant she opened last August.
During the class last week, she took us into the kitchen, where she talked about some of the ethnic ingredients — the curries, pastes, peppers, etc. — she was using, many of which you can buy in the restaurant.
She then showed us how to make chicken satay and corn cakes (she’ll be making shrimp cakes at this week’s class), dishes that would be perfect finger foods at just about any summer get-together. She also made a peanut sauce from scratch, which went perfectly with the chicken.
David and Joe are known for combining seasonal ingredients and local spirits for out-of-this-world drinks. So imagine the magic they create when tasked to include traditional Thai flavors that pair with Jam’s fragrant dishes.
At the class last week, David and Joe showed us how to make real mojitos and daiquiris and explained that both of these drinks are usually made so poorly that it’s no wonder we have skewed perceptions of A) what they are actually supposed to taste like and B) how simple they are to make.
The class costs $55, and you can e-mail Jam to sign up.
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Farm to Plate to awesome
I was looking forward to Farm to Plate, the fundraiser for the Sustainable Food Center now in its second year, but because I didn’t go last year I didn’t know quite what to expect. I know the wonderful folks behind the SFC who work so hard every day of the year to bring fresh, local food to Austin and educate people about why it’s so important, but little did I know they are master party planners, throwing what was easily one of the best events of the year last night at the Barr Mansion.
They even set up containers for people to throw away their compostable trash, which I know wasn’t just in honor of International Compost Awareness Week.
But, as always in this town, it was the people who really made this event shine.
Chefs from Jack Gilmore of Z’Tejas and Rene Ortiz of La Condesa to Mark Spedale of Primizie and John Bates of ASTI Trattoria chatted up party goers as they served bite-sized portions of out-of-this world food. Robert Rhoades of Hudson’s on the Bend, above, was one of several chefs serving lamb from Loncito Cartwright, whom I wrote about last month.
I got to play Michael Barnes and snap a few party pics when I wasn’t chatting with all the wonderful farmers, foodies, brewers and writers in attendance.
Mason and Mylie Arnold of Greenling Organic Delivery
Sari Albornoz, SFC Grow Local program director, Ke’Sean Marshall a sixth grader from Webb Middle School, Andrew Smiley, SFC Farm Direct projects director
Addie Broyles, Susan Leibrock, SFC community relations director, Mary Louise Butters, brownie maker
As the night died down, the band continued to play and several chefs pulled out their fire pois for an after-party show. Looks like chefs really do know how to play with fire.
In other good news for the Sustainable Food Center, the organization found out Friday that it is the winner for the Envision Central Texas Pioneer Award for this year.
The center was also recently awarded a Still Water Foundation matching grant for $25,000. The Austin-based foundation will match donations dollar for dollar through the end of the year, up to $25,000. If you’d like to donate, go to the SFC Web site.
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Tribeza managing editor Lauren Smith Ford: What’s in Your Fridge Friday?
Smith Ford, who has been with Tribeza for three years and now does everything from editing and writing stories and styling the glamorous photo shoots, says that we’ve caught her fridge on a good week. This month she and her husband, Bennett, went through an eating out span and that now she’s cooking at home more, especially pot roasts, which are her favorite.
What three things are always in your fridge? Venison because my husband loves to try out new recipes with it; goat cheese because it’s pretty much good with everything; apples because they are an easy snack to grab on the go.
What’s your favorite condiment? Lawry’s seasoning—it adds that extra flavor to a pork tenderloin or to my personal favorite, a sweet potato.
What’s your go-to late night snack? An Ezekiel English muffin with a touch of Nutella.
I’m always on the hunt for interesting refrigerators. If you want to show off yours, take a photo of it (please resist the urge to clean or rearrange) and send it to abroyles@statesman.com. (Photo by Lauren Smith Ford.)
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Average Betty gives Austin’s DadLabs a hand in the kitchen
Mother’s Day is Sunday, and the Austin-based DadLabs has teamed up with Average Betty, one of my favorite video bloggers, to help dads/kids whip up a few dishes for the moms in their lives.
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Celebrating compost, kohlrabi, tomatoes and giant beets
My friend, Bobby “The Compost King” Johnson, called me up this week to remind me that it’s International Compost Awareness Week. He should know. He’s one of the guys, along with my other friends Daniel and Adam, I’ve talked about before who bikes food scraps from dining halls in Columbia, Mo., to the compost factory at their house.
The three of them recently started the Center for Urban Agriculture in Columbia (there are similar groups across the country, but not in Austin as far as I know) to promote growing food and composting in the city. I couldn’t be prouder of these guys. Happy compost week, amigos.
My own compost pile, as you can see from the top photo, is already looking a lot like soil. Bobby is telling me to just sit on it for a year, but Sustainable Food Policy Board member and permaculture specialist Richard Pierce told me I could sift out the nutrient-rich soil to feed back to my garden. It’s pretty tempting to break into the pile and see what’s going on, but the veggies are sitting pretty sweet in the garden right now, so I’ll probably wait until my next round of planting.
Yesterday was Kohlrabi Day. My husband, Ian, has plans to put that big beautiful purple German turnip into a corned beef and cabbage dish he has planned, so he had the pleasure of picking it.
The heat finally got to my greens. Renee of Renee’s Roots is experimenting with shade cover to extend the growing season of her lettuce. Maybe I’ll try that next year.
And did you see that broccoli floret in the top collage? I can’t believe it’s survived this long in the heat, but we’ll see how it pulls through in the 90 degree days this week.
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New York chefs slay at 2009 James Beard Awards
(The red carpet and quasi-live blog only mildly satiated our desire to be part of the event, to watch the chefs/authors-turned-celebrities mingle with each other and graciously — or ungraciously — accept their awards.)
But they weren’t, so those of us who didn’t get invited relied on tweets from the event, blog posts and finally a press release from the James Beard Foundation to find out who won.
Not very exciting if you’re into food but can’t swing a trip to the ceremonies, but the awards are nonetheless considered the top food prize in the country, which means they are dissected and debated at length (Eat Me Daily has a particularly interesting post about the dearth of female nominees) from the nominations through the winners and post-award frenzy. (The media awards — which most food writers, including this one, dream of winning — were given out on Sunday night.)
New York chefs and restaurants, unpredictably, took home many of the awards, and out of this great state of chefs, restaurants and writers, there were no wins for Texas. Nancy Nichols of Side Dish calls it as it is: “Dallas, we have a serious PR problem.”
For us online food geeks, Epicurious.com won for best food Web site.
Here are most of the rest of the winners, and I’ll leave it up to you to share your thoughts on who should have won in the comments section below:
Outstanding restaurant: Jean Georges (chef/owner Jean-Georges Vongerichten, owner Phil Suarez, New York)
Outstanding restaurateur award: Drew Nieporent (Myriad Restaurant Group, New York)
Outstanding chef: Dan Barber (Blue Hill, New York)
Best new restaurant: Momofuku Ko (chefs/owners David Chang and Peter Serpico, New York)
Rising star chef of the year: Nate Appleman (A16, San Francisco)
Outstanding pastry chef: Gina DePalma (Babbo, New York)
Outstanding wine service award: Le Bernardin (wine director Aldo Sohm, New York)
Outstanding wine and spirits professional: Dale DeGroff, New York
Outstanding service: Daniel (owner Daniel Boulud, New York)
Best chef: Great Lakes: Michael Symon (Lola, Cleveland, Ohio)
Best chef: Mid-Atlantic: Jose Garces (Amada, Philadelphia)
Best chef: Midwest: Tim McKee (La Belle Vie, Minneapolis, Minnesota)
Best chef: New York City: Gabriel Kreuther (The Modern, New York)
Best chef: Northeast: Rob Evans (Hugo’s, Portland, Maine)
Best chef: Northwest: Maria Hines (Tilth, Seattle)
Best chef: Southwest: Paul Bartolotta (Bartolotta Ristorante di Mare at Wynn, Las Vegas)
Best chef: South: John Currence (City Grocery, Oxford, Mississippi)
Best chef: Southeast: Mike Lata (Fig, Charleston, South Carolina)
Best chef: Pacific: Douglas Keane (Cyrus, Healdsburg, California)
Humanitarian of the Year: Feeding America
Lifetime Achievement Award: Ella Brennan (Partner: Commander’s Palace Family of Restaurants)
MFK Fisher Distinguished Writing Award: Aleksandra Crapanzano (“Benedictions,” September 2008 issue of Gourmet)
Newspaper Food Section: The Washington Post, Joe Yonan
Newspaper feature writing about a restaurant or chef: Katy McLaughlin (“Sushi Bullies,” The Wall Street Journal)
Newspaper feature writing without recipes: Kristen Hinman (“The Pope of Pork”, Riverfront Times)
Newspaper feature writing with recipes: Rebekah Denn (“High on the Hairy Hogs: Super-Succulent Imports are Everything U.S. Pork Isn’t”, Seattle Post-Intelligencer)
Magazine feature writing about restaurants and/or chefs: Ruth Reichl (Gourmet, “The Last Time I Saw Paris…”)
Magazine feature writing with recipes: Edna Lewis (Gourmet, “What is Southern?”)
Magazine feature writing without recipes: Alan Richman (GQ, “Made (Better) in Japan”) (Worth noting: In this category, Richman beat out Austin’s Pat Sharpe of Texas Monthly, who was nominated for “BBQ 08: The Top 50 BBQ Joints in Texas”)
Reporting on nutrition or food-related consumer issues: Rachael Moeller Gorman (EatingWell, “How to Feed Your Mind”)
Blog focusing on food, beverage restaurants or nutrition: Erika Ehmsen, Elizabeth Jardina, Rick LaFrentz, Amy Machnak, Johanna Silver, Margaret Sloan and Margo True (Our One-Block Diet, Oneblockdiet.sunset.com)
Food-related columns: Corby Kummer (The Atlantic, “A Papaya Grows in Holyoke,” “Beyond the McIntosh,” “Half a Loaf”)
Restaurant Reviews: Adam Platt (New York Magazine, “Faux French”; “The Mario of Midtown”; “Corton on Hudson”;)
Writing on spirits, wine or beer: Alan Richman (GQ, “¡Viva La Revolución!”)
Multimedia food journalism: Ruth Reichl (Gourmet.com, “The Test Kitchen”)
Audio webcast or radio show: WNYC, The Leonard Lopate Show: 3-Ingredient Challenge (hosts Leonard Lopate and Rozanne Gold, producer Sarah English, New York City Metro, Online)
Video webcast: Savoring the Best of World Flavors, Volume III: Vietnam and the Island of Sicily (producers John Barkley, Kenneth Wilmoth, Greg Drescher, Steve Jilleba and Janet Fletcher, host Jonathan Coleman, Ciaprochef.com/WCA3/)
Television food segment: “CBS News Sunday Morning: In a Pinch” (producers Jon Carras and David Small, host Martha Teichner, CBS)
Television Food Show, National or Local: Lidia’s Italy: Sweet Napoli (host Lidia Matticchio Bastianich)
Website Focusing on Food, Beverage, Restaurant, or Nutrition: Epicurious.com (Tanya Steel)
Cookbook of the Year: “Fat: An Appreciation of a Misunderstood Ingredient, with Recipes” (Jennifer McLagan)
Cookbook Hall of Fame: Jane Grigson for her entire body of work, including The Art of Charcuterie, Good Things, Jane Grigson’s Vegetable Book, The Mushroom Feast, & English Food
Cookbook: American Cooking: “Screen Doors and Sweet Tea: Recipes and Tales from a Southern Cook” (Martha Hall Foose)
Cookbook: Baking and Dessert: “Bakewise: The Hows and Whys of Successful Baking” (Shirley O. Corriher)
Cookbook: Beverage: “WineWise: Your Complete Guide to Understanding, Selecting, and Enjoying Wine” (Steven Kolpan, Brian H. Smith, Michael A. Weiss)
Cookbook: Cooking from a Professional Point of View: “Alinea” (Grant Achatz)
Cookbook: General Cooking: “How to Cook Everything (Completely Revised Tenth Anniversary Edition)” (Mark Bittman)
Cookbook: Healthy Focus: “The Food You Crave: Luscious Recipes for a Healthy Life” (Ellie Krieger)
Cookbook: International: “Beyond the Great Wall: Recipes and Travels in the Other China” (Jeffrey Alford, Naomi Duguid)
Cookbook: Reference and Scholarship: “The Flavor Bible: The Essential Guide to Culinary Creativity, Based on the Wisdom of America’s Most Imaginative Chefs” (Karen Page, Andrew Dornenburg)
Cookbook: Single Subject: “Fat: An Appreciation of a Misunderstood Ingredient” (Jennifer McLagan)
Cookbook: Writing and Literature: “In Defense of Food” (Michael Pollan)
Cookbook: Photography: “The Big Fat Duck Cookbook” (Dominic Davies and Dave McKean)
(Photo by Elise Thompson of LAist.com)
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Whipping up real change out of food policy buzzwords
Sustainable. Food. Policy. Board.
Sounds exciting, doesn’t it? A buzzword — “sustainable” — combined with “policy” and “board,” which will make anyone’s eyes glaze over, and that almighty necessity “food.”
But, as a friend of mine used to pester me when I’d start talking big, what does it mean?
It would be easy for the good intentions of the Sustainable Food Policy Board, which formed last year and is made up of 13 people with strong ties to local food, to be squashed by the hurdles that inevitably get in the way when people try to affect change.
In any other city, in any other time, with a board led by any other folks, this might be the case.
So what does that mean, improving local food system?
Most of us take supermarkets for granted, Winne explained, but for many people without transportation, getting to and from a supermarket isn’t easy. Food boards can help reroute buses and even convince city governments to give incentives to supermarkets to open in neighborhoods where there weren’t any.
Protecting farmland is something else food policy boards, like the one in Portland, Ore., have accomplished. After a survey of the farms around Portland revealed that 85 percent of the farms sold directly to the city and its residents, officials decided to include farmland protection in the city’s long-term planning. The city even turned down proposals for subdivision that would adversely affect farms. (Farms in the Austin area that are on the brink of closing down because of water issues could greatly benefit from protection like this.)
In Cleveland, the food policy board made it so that community gardens, like the 4-acre Sunshine Community Gardens in Austin, would be protected under an “urban agriculture zone.” They also created an ordinance so residents, following certain protocol, could own backyard chickens and keep bees.
Policy boards — there are about 100 such groups in the U.S. — have created incentives such as seed grants to encourage farmers to keep farming and business opportunities for them to sell produce at local schools and government facilities.
Food policy boards can influence how cities respond to the push to post nutritional information on menus and to remove trans fats from restaurants. Boards can also help develop education programs to help kids understand nutrition. (Winne found some schools requiring as little as one hour per school year on health and nutrition. And we wonder why childhood obesity is reaching pandemic proportions, if I may steal another buzzword of late.)
“Focus on things that are closer at hand,” Winne told the group. His first suggestion was that the group assess Austin’s food system: Who are the stakeholders? Which organizations are already working in the community? Who doesn’t have access to fresh, quality food? What is the City’s buying power when it comes to food? Which schools have programs to improve kids’ lunches? Which schools are doing the best job educating their students on nutrition?
“Food has become a real exciting topic these days,” Winne told the board and about a dozen audience members. From farmers’ markets to salmonella to the rising cost of health care to the environmental impact of the food industry, people are talking about food like never before.
“We can make changes as a group that we can’t make as individuals,” he said.
(Mug shot courtesy of MarkWinne.com)
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Fro-yo craze officially hits Austin
Frozen yogurt certainly isn’t new, but the so-called fro-yo craze that has consumed the coasts for years has finally hit Austin. Several shops have opened in recent months, including the Central-Texas based Yummy Yo, 360 Nueces St., at the bottom of the 360 condominium tower.
General manager Judy Yoon says the store, which opened just before the South by Southwest festivals, serves eight to ten fat-free flavors, some of which are gluten-free and all contain live and active cultures found in regular yogurt. Like a handful of other places in town, Yummy Yo charges by the ounce ($.45 per ounce) and is self-serve, including the toppings, which range from fresh fruit and Asian fruit jellies to graham cracker crumbs and chocolate syrup.
Tomunchi, 1701 W. Parmer Lane., and Sprinkles Frozen Yogurt, 10700 Anderson Mill Road, are two other locally owned yogurt stores that feature self-serve yogurt and toppings.
Other area yogurt stores include:
- Swirll, 2310 Guadalupe St.,
- Yogurt Planet, 4601 N Lamar Blvd
- The Yogurt Spot, 2815 Guadalupe St (a new location is set to open this summer at 500 N. Lamar Blvd.)
- Mambo Berry, available at various events on the weekends, check www.mamboberry.com for information
- Yogurt r’ Rock, 2711 La Frontera Blvd.
(Photos by Alberto Martínez)
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New farmers’ market in Round Rock
Tomorrow marks the grand opening of the new Brushy Creek Farmers’ Market at 16813 Great Oaks Drive in Round Rock (next to the Brushy Creek Municipal Utility District).
From 9 a.m. to 1 p.m., you’ll be able to buy fresh vegetables, fruits, flowers, herbs and locally raised meats, including beef, pork and chicken.
To kick things off, the market is hosting a barbecue cook-off tomorrow with barbecue vendors and live music.
If you’re interesting in being a vendor at the market, contact Amy Ingram.
(via Edible Austin)
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Location change for Sunset Valley Farmers’ Market
For the next two Saturdays (May 2 and May 9), the Sunset Valley Farmers’ Market will move from Toney Burger Center to Sunset Valley Elementary School just around the corner on Pillow Road.
From the market:
Parking will be allowed on the Pillow Road side of the school and on the left hand (northwest) side of Pillow Road past where the market will be held….After you turn onto Pillow Road, there is an entrance into the elementary school parking lot on the right. If that is full, go on down past the market, and we will have someone in attendance to facilitate the parking.
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Channel your inner Michael Pollan
…or Alice Waters or your sustainable food activist of choice because you can help change the way we think about food. Join members of the Sustainable Food Policy Board for a public meeting on Monday at 12:30 p.m. in the city council chambers at City Hall.
The newly formed board will featured a special guest, activist Mark Winne, who has worked for more than 30 years on food and agriculture policy groups. The boards he works with, including Austin’s, focus on improving access to quality food, reducing hunger and food insecurity, educating the public on the benefits of local good and supporting local farmers.
When you think about it, food relates to everything: from oil (petroleum-based fertilizers are an industry standard at this point) to education (studies show that unhealthy kids don’t learn as much or as well as their healthy counterparts) to the environment (livestock are the largest source of methane from human-related activities) to, of course, our health.
FYI, parking will be free in the City Hall garage. Just bring your ticket with you and the city clerk with validate it. The full agenda will be posted here on the City’s site.
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Matt Armendariz of Matt Bites: What’s in Your Fridge Friday?
Up until 2000, he was working with Whole Foods Market, starting at the Brodie Oaks location in Austin while he was a student at Austin Community College. He then moved to Chicago when the company started its Midwest expansion and eventually to San Francisco when he became Whole Foods’ creative and artistic director.
He lives in L.A. now with his food stylist husband, Adam (and when you see Matt’s food photos, you’ll see why it’s a match made in heaven). Armendariz says he didn’t get serious about making photographs until two or three years ago. Now, in addition to keeping up MattBites.com, which was one of the charter members of Martha Stewart’s inner circle of blogs, he shoots a mix of editorial and advertising food photos.
“Ever since the Martha Stewart appearance last year (he baked cookies with the Queen on her daytime television show), it’s been really crazy,” he says. But being in the spotlight hasn’t gone to his head. You can find him connecting with bloggers across the country on Twitter, and he’s always got an eye out for what’s going on in his hometown.
What three things are always in your fridge? Eggs, Sambal, Tortillas, Kewpie Mayo. (ok, you said three but I had to pick four).
What’s your favorite condiment? Nuoc Cham. Hands down it’s Nuoc Cham. I can’t really be without it now as it adds dimension to so many things I cook. I’m addicted. And it’s not jjust for Vietnamese Food!
What’s your favorite food to photograph? It’s a tie between pomegranates and artisan cheeses. Poms are so beautiful, sensual, a bit scary and full of so much detail it’s insane. And artisan cheeses — not the mass produced blocks of cheese — but true beautiful handmade cheeses. Especially if they’re rubbed in ash, cocoa, grape leaves, soaked in wine, buried in the ground, strained through a basket, you see where I’m going with this. So much texture, color and shape. And then I get to eat them when I’m done.
I’m always on the hunt for interesting refrigerators. If you want to show off yours, take a photo of it (please resist the urge to clean or rearrange) and send it to abroyles@statesman.com.
(Photos by Matt Armendariz.)
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