It's Festival Season

 September does mean the return to school but it also means festival season.This means parks and city blocks are going to be filled with all sorts of yummy foods and drinks along with games and fun vendors. What;'s going on where? Find out!!!

New York City of course has the San Gennaro festival in lower Manhattan;s Little Italy. There you can find everything from puffs of hot and sugary zeppelin to hot from the oven pizza slices. Stop in the many cages and finish the pizza a long with arancini, rice balls stuffed with seasoned ground beef , with a cappuccino and the many Southern Italian pastries. This is from September  17th to the 27th.This year celebrates its' one hundredth anniversary. so there will be extra treats and celebrations going on. Earlier in the month, this weekend the city hosts Egyptian Day where you can enjoy such treats as shawarma and tabouli Right across the river in New Jersey the state has a variety of festivals also going on. Head over the the near the shore town Manalapan where the Happy Day Farm has the famed tribute to Dolly Parton - a corn maze dedicated to her along with food stands that feature fresh apple fritters, funnel cakes, gyros and fresh squeezed lemonade to name a few. Up north Bergen County has the Fall Festival in Overpeck Creek Park in Leonia (right off ROute 80. It;s September 18th to the 19th and there will be a variety of different food trucks for all sorts of taste.

See Boston , not just for it's Revolutionary War History but for the festivals there .It is a foodie town ,catering to all sorts of taste. Try the Caribbean Rum and Food Festival held on September 12th at Roxbury College. This is a boozy get together where you can sample different rums along with such Caribbeans favorites as jerk chicken and  conch fritters.There's sure to be slices of rum cake too. There is also the Boston local food festival September 26th at ROse Kennedy Greenway.The best of New England is there, Try blueberry crisps from a blueberry farm and Mexican street corn where the corn is locally grown. Get a taste of the early Oktoberfest in California's Big Bear Lake, in Southern California. It;s starts on September 12th and ends on November 8th . They have everything from bratwurst to spaetzles and  of course, giant, pretzels along with apple strudel with caramel sauce. Up in Northern California by San Francisco there is the Pacifica Fog Festival the weekend of September 26 and 27th. Try the famed Fog Cutter cocktail -  a Heady mix of rum, gin and brandy are splashed with lemon juice and stirred.There;s also Witch craft cookies and Shire shack dishes there too.

It;s festival  time thorughout the US. Go to one of these or one in your neighborhood.Enjoy the good weather and good food.

The Best Of Boston

 Boston is known for its brand a clam chowder. Yet there's so much more to this historicv, multiethnic town. It rivals New York, La and Chicago for excellent and varied dining. Boston may be known for it's great history but it's famed for its' great foods.

Today's New York Times Food section esplored all aspects of the town's  vast array of eateries.,Yes, there is seafood and the best is found at Belle Isle Seafood.It's located in nearby Winthrop a seaside town near Logan Airport. You can splurge on the lobster pie but also try the fried seafood with a side of onion rings or fries. There is clam chowder too if you want a cup. There is also Row 34 which has fresh locally sourced lobsters caught by the chef Jeremy Sewalls' cousin and his son. The restaurant even makes its; own satime crackers!These  work with the smoked fish that's cured on the premises.Boston is an Italian town with a rich history of immigrants contributing to the city's table. Try Via Cannucia run by Stefano Quaresima. Chef Quaresima is known for his baking skills , supplying the restaurant with cream buns and bombolini doughnuts. He also creates flavorful frittatas and mouth watering red and white pizzas as well as in house  baked desserts. Giulia's  in Cambridge,is another great Italian eatery that is a must try.Diners get to enjoy the homemade wild boar papperdalle  along with bucatini ameritriciata

Asian food is also popular here. Tourists should try Ming Seafood Restaurant in Quincy where they can have a plate of shumai, steamed dumpling that features a shrimp truffle filling wrapped in a cuttlefish ink wrapper. For fun the chef sets a Mano pudding set in a rubber ducky mold. There is also The Eaves ,a Viernamese restaurant in Union Square.Chefs, married couple Vincenzo Le and Duong Huybh reimagine classic Vietnamese dishes with a New England twist. Cha Cha la Vong usually made with catfish in Hanoi is remade with New England monkfish, The city is usually known for its' clam chowder but Yume Ga Arukara is changing that. It serves udon, those thick Japanese wheat noodles in a dashi broth Diners can choose to add in scallions or beef slices along with crispy tempura bits. Toro offers Spanish tapas,  a nice change up from the other cuisines.There's a wide range of seafood along with meat  and vegetable small plates. Diners can enjoy croqueta de bacalao,  salt cod croquettes along with flank hanger steak or pimentos. There's also a  choice of delicious paellas  that come in two types a vegetable one and a seafood one. American restaurants loke Field and Vine and Cutty's are also featured too along wht Sofra a Greek pastry shop.

Boston is not just beans and clam chowder.It has a rich and varied table.There is seafood but also other dishes from other cuisines that are flavorful and tasty.

Fizz For The Holidays

The gift of bubbles are always fun. This could range from champagne to soda machines to gift certificates to a soda shop. There's nothing like the joy of fizz

Of course everyone appreciates champagne. Veuve Cliquot is the number one bottle of bubbly given out.It also comes in a very pretty yellow box.Its' notes are grape and apple and would be perfect with a varied charcuterie board.Moet Chandon is another good gift It has a very fruity, almost tropical taste with notes of pineapple and mango. There are under notes of mirabelle plum and apricot. A personal favorite is Asti Spumante which has a delicate blend of orange,pears, apricots and peaches. It's refreshing and not cloying  thanks to the crisp acidity of the Moscato Bianco grapes that comprise if champagne isn't our thing , then think soda. No, not your box of Coke or Dr. Pepper but a gift certificate at some of the new soda shops opening up.Victoria Peterson, a regular contributor covered this in Wednesday's New York Times Food section.  Chains like Swig and Fiiz have such delicious combinations as sparkling water with syrups to create Italian sodas, refreshing alternatives to the regular colas and lime sodas. The companies are mostly in Utah and the West. Some Italian pastry and coffee shops in other metro areas, like New York , Boston and Chicago can make Italian sodas in such refreshing flavors as tangerine, blood orange and lemon.

A soda machine is another great gift idea. Soda Stream has updated its' look and is a great addition to any one with a modern looking kitchen.It's has a new updated model,  Terra which is  sleeker and more aerodynamic looking. It comes in four colors from pale blue to red and the classic black or white. You could be generous and give the Hydration pack which has two extra bottles if the recipient wants to make two or three flavors at once. They also have the One Touch Electric which is much easier to use than the Terra and also the Aqua Fizz which is the sleekest of all the Soda Stream soda makers. It even comes with fancy carafes that go on any table from picnic to dining. What's really good about gifting this handy machine is the new updated flavors. Yes they still have the classic cola, cream and orange soda flavors along with their version of Dr. Pepper - Dr Pete's. Yet they also have Bubly drops for homemade flavored seltzer. Yet they also have a new line of craft soda syrups in such flavors as lemonade and pink grapefruit along with kombucha and passionfruit and mandarin kombucha

Give the gift of fizz for this Christmas. It could be a bottle of bubbly or a gift certificate at a cool soda shop. Better yet, give a soda machine where there's always a fresh amount of fizz. There's nothing like a fun holiday , full of bubbles and fun.

Food Equals Money

 Right now everyone is probably feeling more than the financial pinch of this pandemic.It's tough when we're trying to make ends meet. What can we do? Turn to food. Not to eat but to make money from. There are ways to make those dishes tasty - in the financial sense.

If you have a specialty or a list of great recipes, then consider a pop up restaurant. The one  good thing about the pandemic is that restaurants are eagerly renting out their kitchen to young chefs. This practice known as cloud kitchen is great for novice cooks and sous chefs who have been laid off. The New York Times food section wrote an entire article on this last Wednesday. If you have a menu, then advertise it on Instagram . Start with a few dishes and advertise either pick up or delivery. The restaurant may even be able to incorporate some of your dishes into theirs if they're similar. They will ask for a rental fee for use of their facilities but in the end it's worth it. Keep in mind it's illegal to run a pop up from your house or apartment (although some have done it and gotten away with it). It's also good to ask the restaurant owner for advice. Even if you know the restaurant industry, you may glean other facts or advice about certain aspects. As for bakers,  who want a pop up bakery, ask any local restaurant owner if you can use their oven and even fridge.  You might even be lucky enough to have the eatery add your creations to their dessert list.

Another way to make money from food is delivery. Door Dash and Uber Eats are always hiring and the pay can be good if you hustle.There will be background checks but Door Dash is an overnight one. The company then send you an insulated tote within a few days. You pick out a route close to your home and them work it. It could just be your town or your town and the surrounding ones. You also can decline any  pick up too if you don't have the time or have too many deliveries. One of the best things about it is you can make as much money as you want. There's no cap so you can easily earn up to five hundred a week. Uber Eats is the same principle, with delivering food from local restaurants to homes and businesses. You can still be a delivery person even if you just have a scooter or bike.  This is great for those living in big cities like New York, Boston and Chicago where it's easier to move around without a car. A plus to all of this is discovering new restaurants and their menus, a definite bonus if you're looking for a new place to order from.Another idea is working for the actual restaurant. The only problem is that you'll be working exclusively for them and that means fewer deliveries. It's not  great and also the owner may not pay as well as Door Dash or Uber Eats.

You can make money from food. Start a pop up restaurant or deliver food. It's a great way to remedy your financial situation with a dash of cash added to the recipe.

Paleo Muffins

Muffins are one of the healthiest ways to start off the morning. Well, they were until certain  national coffee chains turned them into sugar and fat bombs. However they can be returned to their original heart healthy goodness with adding all natural ingredients and home baking.Nothing beats a fresh from the oven muffin bursting with benefits..

Julia Moskin realizes this,being an expert home chef and baker,, and wrote about them in Wednesday's New York Times Food section. The paper dropped their breakfast issue then and it was centered on everything AM. Muffins are another aspect of the morning routine. Unfortunately most of the ones eaten are usually purchased through a drive through window and has more sugar than doughnuts and even Twinkies. As Joanne Chang, owner of several Flour bakeries in the Boston area puts it, muffins are nothing more than cake batter poured into muffin tins.How to make them paleo healthy again. By going back to paleo flavorings and ingredients. Instead of using refined white sugar, rely on maple syrup or honey. Make sure there are nuts and whole grains mixed in  Sadly muffin recipes  do need refined white flour in order for the bake to be successful. White flour gives not only taste but lightness.Its' gluten  content also allows the batter to stretch,  rise and give the muffins their rise.. Whole grain is the preferred and it can be varied with the ancient grains of millet, spelt and bran, just to name a few.Buttermilk is the preferred liquid because baking soda needs to be activated by liquid and acid. Try to use newly bought baking soda too . An older one will not give the desired effect.

What else is needed to create the perfect home baked muffin? Ms. Moskin recommends doubling up on the baking soda and baking powder to increase the size of the muffin tops.It also gives the batter a  better chance of rising correctly.Stay away from over beating. Doing such will inhibit leaveners from working. Also ignore that age old advice of not filling up the tins to the top. Do so, but remember to grease the pan's top. This will prevent the muffins from sticking and breaking after they've been cooled.Another old baker' s rule that can be broken is don't rush the batter into the oven directly  after mixing. Resting it allows the grains to soften and absorb the liquids. It produces a  tender crumb and lightness. Baker Chang stores all of her batters overnight in the fridge to get the ultimate best  texture. If you are making muffins are home, just leave the batter on the counter for an hour.Just resist the urge to stir it This will  cause  air bubbles which will expand  cause the baking powder to reactivate and the baking powder to redouble its efforts. This will cause the muffins to have a small or little rise.

Muffins can be both healthy and tasty. The secret is baking them at home, where ingredients can be monitored . Try  making a batch today and enjoy the benefits.

Tapioca That Dessert Standard Updated

Too bad tapioca isn't a dessert favorite anymore because it is good. It's an old fashioned dessert, better served after a homemade meat loaf or roast chicken with potatoes. Yet it can fit right at home in the 21st Century. It's still a treat , even as a snack.

Tapioca gets its' start from the cassava root. this is a yam like tuber that can be made into a variety of products form bread to pudding to even biodegradable bags(strange but true) Tapioca used as a food goes back hundred of years to when the indigenous Brazilians used to grow and then eat the root in a variety of ways. It is also popular in Southeast Asia where it;s put in bubble teas. It's also popular in Southern India where the people of Kerala eat it boiled with spices or the root is cut into thin slices. Tapioca first hit the American dessert table in 1894 thanks t o a Boston housewife, Susan Stavers. One of her roomers was an ailing sailor who brought back the cassava root. he advised her to grind it in her coffee grinder where it was turned into fakes. She made it into a sweet treat with cream for him. The news of it spread throughout her neighborhood and she had a business on her hands. She was bought out by John Whitman ,a newspaper publisher and renamed the fledgling industry The Minute Tapioca Company. General Foods bought him out in 1928 where it was then produced for all of America.

The pudding is still good today as it was then, You can update it a bit with adding fruit and flavorings. there are recipes that call for apples and peaches to give it color and texture. Lemon juice can also be added for a lighter more refreshing taste. if you want a more tropical taste think about a dash of lime juice or coconut milk. Tapioca can also be made with rice added so it';s a hybrid of itself and rice pudding.

Tapioca may be an old fashioned dessert but it can certainly fit in with today's dinner. It's a different kind of pudding , with hints of exotic places. Introduce it on your dessert table. This sweet treat will have a whole new generation of fans.