The Sips Of Summer

With warm weather comes thirst. We need a cool glass of something, whether we're on the beach or in the backyard. Luckily, there's some new brands out there offering a cool drunk of something new and different.

One sip of summer is appropriately called Sipp. These are sodas that have a trifecta of flavor.made with organically grown flavors Beth Parentis created these refreshing bubblers. The ginger soda has hints of vanilla and lime, taking it a notch up from the usual ginger ale. I love their lemon married to elderflower and tarragon. The last gives the drink a refreshing bite at the end. Other flavors include ruby red grapefruit paired with honey and rosemary.,Another favorite is  the pear mixed with green tea and honey. Pear soda is rare but delicious.Blood orange soda has lime and jalapeno - not what you'd expect yet a perfect sip for any barbecue. Poland Spring , long known for their refreshing spring water, is now offering carbonated waters. These are not sweet yet have the invigorating flavors of various fruits. They run the gamut from black cherry to the citrus flavors, of orange, lemon, and lime. There's also strawberry and strawberry lemonade as well as a lemon-lime mix. They come in cans and bottles , perfect for long road trips or picnics.

BAI  which has given us tasty and zero calorie fruit ades over the past few years have also expanded in the sparkling water department. As with any BAI product, the ingredients are all organically grown and Fair Trade sourced.There is almost every flavor, from Bolivia Black Cherry to Lambari Watermelon Lime and Waikiki Coconut Lime. The flavors are intense like that of any fruit soda but without all the artificial flavors and colors. They're the perfect go to with sandwiches or just as a refreshing sip on a hot day,Pepsi has jumped on this bandwagon too, creating the artesanal Bubbl'r. It's also chock full of Vitamin A too for extra oomph.  It comes in the usual trendy flavors like pomegranate acai and blood orange but then it veers off into the unusual - like Mango Mingl'r and Cranberry Grapefruit Sparklr. along with Passion Fruit Wond'r. Pepsi has also bought Starbucks which explains the proliferation of bottles of their cold brew coffee.Chilled , these are great pick me ups that can be mixed with milk and chocolate syrup for a  boost. I like them iced with just a few grains of brown sugar. It's also a nice alternative to iced tea.

Summer is coming and with it the need for a cool drink. There are so many new ones out there that would go perfect as a thirst quencher. Try them in a tall glass ,full of ice.

A Marriage Of Tastes

When Meghan Markle married her prince. it was not just a marriage of souls and hearts but a marriage of tastes. Yes, we have a lot in common with the Brits including some foods. Not much though. It should be interesting to see the new Duke and Duchess of Sussex adapt to each other's cuisines.

The one thing Harry and Meghan have in common cuisine wise is the big breakfast. We got the whole idea of eating meats with eggs along with griddle cakes or pancakes. Most countries around the world, especially on the Continent, start the day with just a roll and coffee.We have adapted some of that here, thanks to Starbucks, offering us versions of cafe au lait and cappuccino. Yet we still turn to the UK for our morning inspiration, with mounds of bacon, ham and sausage gracing a dish of eggs. Lunch is a mash up of American and British. The newest royal couple probably had the treat of McDonald's hamburgers and fries growing up but Meghan was also influenced by SoCal living . Her mother is a yoga instructor so there was probably a push for healthy food with an emphasis on fruits and vegetables. She probably continued this with fresh salads or smoothies for lunch.The English Sunday lunch would never work in a town where appearance is everything. Even an every day lunch consisting of fatty sausages in flaky pastry would be too rich  and caloric.This is not an arugula salad with a squeeze of lemon.

Will Meghan ever adopt to the lush English suppers? These are lavish meals, rich with roast beef and gravy soaked Yorkshire pudding. This last is a popover made with three eggs and the beef's drippings. There are veggies, usually the meal is called meat and two veg. These are typically carrots, Brussels sprouts and potatoes. The last is a staple and is cooked in a variety of ways..The most popular is chips, our French fries ,fried in fat. They're best served with fish, usually cod or plaice coated and fried in - what else - chip fat or lard. Do the English  eat California healthy at times? Yes, chicken but it is served but with mashed potatoes and gravy.Meat pies are another British  favorite. Pot pies, which is where ours come from,are usually filled with steak and kidneys, or fish. The last is popular in the romantic , sea surrounded county of Cornwall (of Poldark fame) Stargazey pie which would create shudders in the States is a pie of sardines, eggs and potatoes. Little fish heads, namely pilchards , stick out of the crust, gazing at the sky - hence the name. Will Meghan like it? Or ever taste it? Maybe , if she and Harry head off to Truro or Mousehole in Cornwall.

Meghan and Harry have married each other 's lifestyle's and eating habits too. Let's hope the California girl adds more fresh fruits and veggies to the prince's diet. It'll be a nice change up from traditional fare.

A Royal Breakfast

Tomorrow most of us Yanks will wake at the crack of dawn to watch one of our own marry into the British Royal family.How do we celebrate? By having a Brit breakfast - or at least one influenced by the United Kingdom

A British fry up breakfast is a great but heavy way to greet the day. It is an eye opener that does require mostly frying.It starts with meat. Most English like breakfast sausages, one made of pork called a banger. The best we have here is the Jimmy Dean sausages and for vegetarians - Morning Star Farms. Some like bacon - our bacon called streaky Irish with it. The bacon provides the perfect fat for frying up the other components.Every breakfast plate usually has one or two eggs, always cooked sunnyside up.This way the eater can dip either bread or a sausage into the yolk.About the bread. it cannot be toasted. It has to be fried, in the bacon drippings, or if that's all used up, butter.Iit shouldn't be too soggy with oil, A minute or two in the pan should do it.it wouldn't be a fry up without that Brit staple - beans. Heinz is the popular brand. Tomatoes give it some bite and also are a perfect foil for the meat and eggs. Usually the beefsteak kind are used but try the vine ripe for a sweeter , more vibrant flavor.Another must have is the vinegar laced HP sauce..It's kind of like a tart version of Worcester sauce  which can be used.If that's too intense at five in the morning, switch to ketchup.

Some Americans may feel that eating a huge meal that early may be too much. Try a Thomas' English muffin instead. These are based on the English , crumpet, a spongy kind of muffin brought to the US by Samuel Bath Thomas, from Plymouth in 1879. Slather clotted cream, another UK treat, on them, and then your favorite jam or marmalade. Clotted cream came from the Phoenicians who traded tin in Cornwall.It's cooked milk but has a wonderful buttery , nutty flavor. If not , try Kerry's Irish butter on a hot, toasty English muffin. Slather a rich , flavorful jam on top such as Aldi's Specialty Selected blackberry. You could celebrate the Scottish way with oatmeal.Don't go crazy with cooking the old fashioned rolled oats.. A packet of the instant will do.It may be too late to bake up a loaf of oatmeal bread but many stores do sell it. Toast up a few slices , slather on butter and that other English must have - marmalade. Tea is another must have. Coffee just won;t do.. One of the best is Typhoo tea which can be bought in the international section of some supermarkets like Stop& Shop.It's been around for over one hundred years and has a lovely , mellow flavor. If you can't find it, then go for Earl Grey or Lady Grey tea.

Celebrate an Anglo-American wedding with a Brit breakfast. Go wild with a full on fry up or nibble on an English muffin. Either way, it's a great way to enjoy Harry and Meghan's big day.

A Classic Cookbook Returns

 Indian food has always been misrepresented, There's either overly spiced curries or dishes , tinted in strangely bright neon colors. Luckily a classic cookbook ,Sameen Rushdie's Indian Cookery is coming to the States. This British classic shows Indian cuisine in its' true light, flavorful and subtly spiked with various curries and herbs.

Tejal Rao, a famed chef specializing in the cuisine herself, conducted this interview with Ms. Rushdie in yesterday's New York Times Food section.If her last name sounds familiar , it is. Her brother is Salman Rushdie,the amazing award winning writer of the controversial Satanic Verses. His book came out the same year -1988 - as her cookbook. Hers was just as groundbreaking as his. It combined recipes with history and politics.The Rushdie's decision to stay in the mostly Hindu India when fellow Muslims relocated to Islamic Pakistan  is reflected in their diet. They ate meat and Ms. Rushdie often brought it to school in a country where vegetarianism is part of the religion.It was confusing she admitted , and complex. Her tiffin, a compartimentalized lunch box had ,foods influenced by British colonialism. It was half Indian and half English, and it ruined an ancient and delicious cuisine.

It also provided the basic frame of her cookbook. Ms. Rushdie rebelled against those colonial era recipes and set out to write a cookbook that was about real Indian food. As a working mother in 1980's London she was outraged by the myths and cliches surrounding Indian cuisine which was established during colonial rule. She aimed to dismantle the stereotypes that shaped outsiders' perceptions of the Subcontinent.It was a monolith of mouth burning flavors or the stuff of cheap lunchtime buffets. Authentic Indian cuisine wasn;t all greasy, overcooked or tinted in bright colors The perception had to change. Influenced by such cookbook writers as Claudia Roden, Madhur Jaffrey and Elizabeth David, her book took on a clear , matter-of-fact tone  with a precise, unfussy approach. She reclaimed the story of Indian cuisine along with sharing her family's North Indian recipes.. There's one of her father's favorites, slow roasted lamb rubbed first with yogurt called sabut raan, Fragrant spices such as coriander,, cardomon and cinnamon are made into a marinade for the meat. It's served with fried onion, cilantro and lemon slices for a tasty, juicy dinner roast

Sameen Rushdie cookbookd is being reintroduced at the right time. Americans long for authentic recipes . Here they are, simple and ancient recipes with the purity of Indian heritage.

The Art Of Procrastibaking

It's much more fun to bake cupcakes than it is to clean the bathroom. Or knead dough instead of mowing the lawn. If you feel this way, you're probably a procrastibaker someone who opts for baking over mundane chores. You're not alone. There's more than a baker's dozen of them out there.

The great Julia Moskin wrote about this new trend in today's New York Times Food section.It probably was always a hobby(?) or vice (?) but Instagram gave it legs. It spikes in the weeks leading up to a annual rituals of anxiety like exams, tax day and Election Day.There's also a rush in seeing one's work praised and lauded on Instagram too.Let's face there is absolute fun in baking confetti cookies or making a great pie than there is in handling spread sheets or trying to finish writing that chapter. Many writers have taken to it (Not me- if I want to bake I'll wait til Christmas or someone's birthday), feeling it helps in the writing process. They enter a flow state which allows for more creative thinking.In a way, it's no different than heading to the local Starbucks or Panera for a coffee. One writer, Mia Hopkins, a Los Angeles based writer of racy romance novels,procrastinates by baking pies.It's helps in getting her out of an occasional writer's block Ms. Hopkins always go to pies.There more stimulating to the senses than other bakes. There's kneading the dough, slicing the fruit and crimping the crust. This gets her out of the tangle of words and into the real., allowing her to recharge.

Writers aren't the only procrastibakers. Med students are known for it too. Rachel Courville, a veterinary student at the University of Missouri has baking sessions along study ones. Dedicating a few hours to mixing, baking and decorating is like a mini vacation away from hours of memorization
and worrying about  about passing grades.It's hit the UK too. London medical student, Jonathan Martin wants recipes with many steps. This allows him and other procrastibakers to actually get some work done and give the illusion of efficiency. This would be sourdough bread which requires several proofings and final rising. He also likes the multi step millionaire's shortbread which is layers of shortbread baked and then topped with homemade caramel and melted chocolate. There's a window of time between the shortbread cooling off and making the caramel that allows for studying and chores.Surprisingly professional bakers are also procrastibakers.Erin Gardner, a pro decorator  in New Hampshire bakes recipes that require no thinking such as cookies, brownies and scones. This down time also allows her to get creative with chocolate flowers and stacking cake layers in
new ways.

Procrastibaking is a fun way to blow off chores and create a yummy bake. It's a great way to recharge the batteries too, and retackle a difficult job or study for an intense exam.  The reward is more than a slice of cake or a cookie - it's regaining one's sanity.

A Variety Of Breads

We eat it  almost every day of our lives  but we probably don't give it a second thought. What is this food we take for granted? Bread.One of the most ancient foods is literally the staff of life yet the average foodie or even home chef knows little about it.

Bread is one of the world's oldest prepared foods. There is evidence from 30,000 years ago in Europe of starch residue on rocks used for pounding plants.It is speculated that ferns and cattails were spread on a flat rock and then cooked over a fire.Around 10,000 BC, with the Neolithic Age also came agriculture. This brought grain farming which brought bread into the human diet. Yeast was introduced  then giving early bakers leavened dough. Yeast wasn't the only rising agent. Romans used a combination of grape juice and flour along with wheat fermented with wine. In Ancient France and Spain early bakers  used the foam skimmed from beer called barm. Wheat is the most common grain used to make the loaves however ancient grains such as spelt, einkorn, emmer and kamut.That crackly, chewy crust, usually the best part of a bread is created though the Maillard reaction, using sugars and amino acids to create a browned, delicious coating or crust.It's actually healthier than the loaf's interior simply because it has antioxidants along with having more fiber too.

There are so many breads out there/ We Americans grew up on white loaf. More adventurous parents bought the butter split loaves where the tops were ridged and melted butter drizzled on top before baking.wheat bread has always been a favorite along with multigrain.A deli favorite that has been in many a lunchbox is rye. It's a loaf made from rye flour and can range in color from a light brown to a rich chocolate-y hue. Delis also sell pumpernickel . This is another rich brown bread, made with a sourdough starter and rye.It started out as peasant fare, originating in the northwest region of Germany called Westphalia. It 's the perfect foil for the thin , buttery slices of Westphalian ham.One of its' components  sourdough is a popular bread here in the States.French bakers brought it with them when they went to California during the 1849 Gold Rush.It's a white bread with a pleasantly sour taste thanks to lactic acid bacteria or lactobacillus.It's popular at such places as Panera bread Company where you can get in loaf ,roll or bread bowl form.Most people love Italian and French baguettes. These long batons are tasty for breakfast, lunch,and dinner. They make for the best picnic sandwiches and accompaniments with soup. They also turn into the chewiest and tastiest French toast too.

Bread has always been a big part of the human existence. It connects us with our earliest ancestors along with sustaining our lives.It's not just a loaf  - it's history.

Crumbing It

One of the essentials of any kitchen is a container of bread crumbs. They're not only good for coating fried foods but also acting as a filler and a topping for many dishes,.Breadcrumbs are one of the easiest things to create along with helping to repurpose  leftover bread and rolls.

Breadcrumbs are a pantry must have. They can be easily bought but also can be easily made. If you don;t have the time to take out the food processor , then buy the Progresso brand. They even have jumped on the panko bandwagon, producing the lighter,cruncher Japanese style ones. You can use their plain or for more flavor , their herb laced Italian style or  their Parmesan flavors. These last would be good for chicken Parmesan, however both flavors may be too overpowering for soups and meat loafs. Home made crumbs are another choice, and a better one. You can leave them plain or add a dash of dried oregano or rosemary. The best breads for this  are Italian and French  They produce a fine, almost sawdust like crumb that makes for excellent coating. I usually make my crumbs from Saltines or oyster crackers. Cracker meal has a richer flavor and also fries up nicely. It's usually half a sleeve of Saltines plus oregano, sea salt , and pepper ground together.It's my go to for when I make fried artichoke hearts. It also keeps well in the fridge and, since I always have crackers in the house, I 'm never at a loss.


Breadcrumbs are great for frying any kind of meat and fish. Many home chefs love to make breaded pork chops. This is an easy cook and the crumbs are great for absorbing the fat.Use cracker meal for a lighter fry up. Their flavor will compliment the rich earthy sweetness of the pork. Breaded chicken cutlets are another way to go. If you want a crisper bite go with the panko .Remember to first dip the cutlets into beaten egg and then dredge in the crumbs.You can make these a few days ahead like on a weekend when there's more prep time available .Store the cutlets  in resealable freezer bags and then they can be frozen up to one month .As easy as it is t buy a box of Mrs. Pauls' or Gorton's  homemade fish sticks or fillets taste so much better. You do have to debone and cut the fish into manageable pieces  before the dipping and dredging. For a softer "crunch' use regular breadcrimbs, for more crunch try the panko. Breadcrumbs also make an excellent filler for soups. My family recipe for the Piemontese pane pesto or panpiest calls for a cup of breadcrumbs to be added to a mix of egg and broth. It really is the backbone of the soup, give it a comforting smooth texture along  with toning down the 'egginess"/ Breadcrumbs can also be used as filler for meat loaf too. Use about one cup of dried breadcrumbs. For more zing sub in the Italian style ones.

Always have a container of bread crumbs or cracker meal in the kitchen. They're versatile and can be used in a number of recipes. Buy them or make your own for a tasty coating for meats or as a thickener for soups.