Your Local Food Road Trip

 It's going to be a tough summer to travel  thanks to gas prices  starting at five dollars a gallon. itr's even worse for those who love to go to food oriented  cities and towns. However some gems may be in your back yard and only a walking distance or short hop away.

Before you travel map out where you'd like to go. Nowadays it doesn't pay to wander aimlessly and burn up one hundred dollars of gas. If you are planning a distance drive, not only check out that one restaurant or farmer's market, but check out other food related businesses. There might be a great bakery or creamery that;s worth investigating.If you're headed to the Jersey shore, then any one of the Boardwalks that dot the coast should be included. There you can get such classics as cotton candy ,frozen custard and clams on a half shell. Also make a visit to any of the waterfront candy shops where you can buy such favorites as salt water taffy and homemade fudge.If you're driving through quaint country towns, there's usually a few farms on the way too. These are perfect for picking up fresh corn and tomatoes along with other veggies. Make sure there's plenty of room in the back seat or trunk for your haul too.Some farms even have strawberry and  early raspberry picking right now. Wear the appropriate clothing and bring containers in case the farm doesn't supply any.

City dwellers have a whole cornucopia a their fingertips. New York City may be a gourmet town but there are plenty of down to earth real food eateries. Luckily the city, like any metropolis has a great transit system. You can try the trendy restaurants and bistros in Greenwich Village along with gelaterias and pastry shops.Harlem has some of the best foods and it's an easy trip uptown. Try the ever popular Melba's for eggnog waffles and fried catfish. There's also Brooklyn, home of hipster breweries and fun ice cream shops that offer unusual flavors.The other boroughs , queens. The Bronx and Staten Island also have some great hangouts. Staten island has the plus of Kim Kardashian who has been hanging out with boyfriend Pete Davidson at his favorite haunts. Go to Philadelphia if you live not far from this historic city. It's the ultimate foodie town too , known for its' food markets like the Reading Terminal. Here food lovers can try and buy all sorts of goodies and treats from home made German   pretzels to  hand made.Italian sausages Baltimore has it's waterfront rich with local seafood dishes while Chicago has some great steak houses and of course deep dish pizza.

There's a whole local food scene waiting to be discovered. Best of all, there's not that much traveling. You can find good food and interesting places without burning up a lot of gas.

LA"s Ice Cream Scene

 Los Angeles can be a fun place to visit for a summer vacation. However its' traditional temps can make it feel like a  steam oven. That's where it's ice cream culture comes it/ There's so much to choose from the traditional to the exotic.

Regular contributor and LA native Tejal Rao listed and erote about the myriad of different ice cream shops and gelaterias in yesterday's NewYork Times food section.Los Angeles had a wide variety of ethnic foods and that also applies to its' ice cream. Ms Rao has picked out the most outstanding ones.If you like all natural with a traditional spin then try Sweet Rose Creamery.Owner Shiho Yoshikawa turns local fruits and even hebs and flowers into amazing flavors. Ice cream lovers will enjoy his grasshopper sundae made with fresh mint chip ice cream, chocolate fudge and bits of homemade waffle cones /It's topped off with fresh whipped cream.Then there's Mateo's Ice cream and Fruit Bars which followed a family tradition of making and selling palletas. Priciliano Mateo learned the craft from his grandfather who sold them on the beaches at Oaxaca Mexico. His widow Sofia, and children Oscar and Elizabeth have carried on the tradition, offering such diverse flavors as soursop , mango and guava. Gelato lovers will enjoy Fatamorgana Gelato.This is an offshoot of the famed Roman gelato shop and they reflect Californian tastes instead of Italian ones. They even have five different kinds of chocolate  which includes vegan.

There are more traditional creameries dotted throughout the city..Margaret Dietl, a redhead is the owner of Gingers Divine Ice Creams.   There are the Hispanic influenced ones such as Sari Sari Stone.She has produced such diverse flavors as pickled strawberry and the more mundane blueberry cheesecake.LA has always had a huge Asian presence and it;'s felt in its' cuisine.The same is true of it's frozen treats. Try Awan, run by Zen Ong. His ice creams have coconut cream and Balinese vanilla beans . These make for an ideal canvas for such other flavors as strawberries, cherries , guava and cherimoya, a variation of sweet sop. There's also Oakobing, a Korean ice cream shop.The ice cream is made differently with workers freezing blocks ice blocks in four flavors, strawberry,mango, green tea and milk. This creates bingson, a machine made cream ice. The result is light, fluffy clouds with crystals that met on the tongue,These can be topped with melon balls and drizzled with condensed milk. 

Heading to LA this summer? head to any of these ice cream shops for tasty cool treats. Enjoy a cup, cone or bowl.

The Many Sides of Juneteenth

 Junettenth is an important African-American holiday, much in the same way as Fourth Of July. It celebrates freedom but also the different recipes and customs of Black-Americans and their ancestors. There are so many different  recipes , each tasty , each traditional.

Nicole Taylor , chef and author of the definitive Juneteenth cookbook  Watermelon And Red Birds :A Cookbook For Juneteenth and Other Black Celebrations (Simon and Schuster 2022) just out now, wrote this in the cookbook.Today's issue of the New York Times Food section excerpted it along with  some of her recipes.Some background is needed here. Juneteenth celebrates and acknowledges  when Major General Gordon arrived in  the port city of Galveston Texas and issued General Order 3. This meant,that, two years after Abe Lincoln signed the Emancipation Proclamation that all enslaved people were free,. This happened on June 19th, hence the name Juneteenth  although some plantation owners waited to tell the enslaved in the fall after harvest season.  A year later festivities commenced. Like the Great  Black Migration, it moved from the South to the north , east and west. with it not only came recipes for barbecue but a place at the table for watermelon. June  in Texas was prime season for the fruit.in 1883 The Galveston Daily News has reported that there were celebrations across the state but one in San Antonio had "twenty-three wagons loaded with watermelons. They're now an integral part of the celebrations.

Chef Taylor's recipes are amazing with different spins on traditional dishes. yet they represent her deep roots in Georgia where her family has lived for generations. Her recipe for peach and molasses chicken is a spin on the traditional barbecue soaked one of years past. The sauce is a tangy mix of peach jam and apple cider vinegar mixed with tomato paste, soy sauce ,mustard and coriander seeds. The chicken is basted twice in it and served with more coriander. She takes the traditional cole slaw and zings it up with poblanos  and scallions and dresses it in a coating of virgin olive oil, apple cider vinegar and garlic cloves. Celery seeds are also added and a dash of hot sauce can also be thrown in. What to finish it off with? A strawberry sumac (!) cake. The berries are macerated with a mix of ground sumac, granulated sugar and almond extract. They're dotted on the homemade cake that's also spiced with the ground sumac. The perfect drink for this is Chef Taylor's watermelon ginger beer. This is a fiery mix of  red watermelon and ginger beer with the pureed fruit. Ice cubes , full of fennel fronds are put in to cool it.

Juneteenth is a day of thought but also f celebration and honoring all those who were enslaved. They should be celebrated with good food and good drink. It's their recipes and their legacies that should be honored.

Eating With Ease Every Day

 It's tough to go on a diet. Everyone knows that. However, there's a new advice book that can help any one struggling with weight and food issues. The author , herself has been through t tough times and knows how hard it can be.

Amy Frienburg Trufas has written an interesting and at times harrowing to read self help book, based on her experiences. Food:Eat With Ease Every Day (Eat With Ease Publishing 2022) tells her story, an autobiography of sorts about an over weight girl who has been fat shamed by all including her mother. The recount of her early years are not for the faint hearted. She is sent to 'fat camp" where she's humiliated further,a heart wrenching chapter in a young , sensitive girl's life.There are stories of her even being humiliated on Halloween by the family doctor who refuses to give her candy as she trick or treats with her friends. Her home life is dysfunctional thanks to an alcoholic mother who constantly berates an young and teenage Amy.Ms. Friedburg Trufas has two outlets, her beloved grandmother and food to turn to .The second only adds to her misery as she tries in vain to lose weight with endless diets and deprivation.

I found myself rooting for Amy and was happy when she found the balance she needed - eating with ease - and not "dis-ease" as she phrases it. There are recipes but they're broad and you can make what them what you will. Amy's Satisfying Salad gives the basics of creating a healthy salad. It's up to the individual following it to put in the their favorite veggies and lean protein. it's then dressed with a simple vinaigrette. There are excellent tips on late night snacking (the downfall of any dieter) as well as how to eat healthy in  a restaurant or when ordering a take out. She has good advice on drinking more water and staying hydrated as well as advice on cutting down sodas and other sugary drinks. There is a page on managing cravings. If you want that brownie , Ms Friedburg-Trufos writes, eat it. It beats eating a variety of substitutes like carrots.It's OK to stumble too.Don'tt look back but look forwards instead, to healthier choices. Another plus is space for readers to write their goals and strategies. there is also a section on self love too , readers will find wise and thoughtful.

Food:Eating With Ease Every Day is a must have for those struggling with weight. It is not just advice but  a journey of one's woman looking for a better life for her body.It is a story worth reading.

The Selling Of The Dixie Lee

 Could it be true? One of New Jersey's most iconic bakeries Keansburg 's Dixie Lee Bskery is now owned by a famous chef?  What's going to happen to this mainstay of the Jersey shore?

It's been the steady buzz around this iconic business for the last few weeks. I've have always been a big fan of the place (as everyone knows.)It's worth the trip down to Keansburg , even in December for the Christmas platters of butter cookies.I love their variety of them, from the chocolate dipped to the butter leaves sandwich types. Their giant cookies covered in nothing but sprinkles or M&M's are the best and are like mini hubcaps in size. Everyone goes mad for their  chewy onion rye bread which is a delicate flavor blend of crispy blackened onions and rye dough.It's so good you can even eat it for breakfast (and I have , slathered with Melt) Over the years I've bought their seven layer cake for my Mom's graduation and crunchy flaky croissants that rival any New York City' patisseries, There are  cult like followings for the Dixie Lee's lemon meringue pie and their doughnuts, both jelly and traditional.

The bakery has a long history in the Keansburg area. It started eighty-five years ago when the town was basically a summer resort , dotted with tiny bungalows. For the past forty years Mark Onoluk and Allison Loori have owned it, maintaining the  original recipes that pleases generations for decades. However it was too much  for them although they will be staying on as managing partners. Enter famed chef and Hazlet native David Burke. Chef Burke is no stranger to baked goods. He studied at the prestigious Ecole LeNotre in Plaisirs,France a suburb of Paris. He has been on the Bravo network's popular Top Chef  for two season and owns a slew of clubby and trendy eateries throughout New Jersey. His latest is Goat in Union Beach, a town away from Keansburg. His plans for the Dixie Lee? He wants to keep the iconic menu.It's what four generations of his family enjoyed. His son's wedding cake even came from there. Yet will he sneak in meringues or brioches?  He plans on selling sandwiches, which could be wonderful. I wouldn't mind a ham and Gruyere stuffed sandwich. I do hope he keeps what has made the bakery great, cookies and breads that taste like homemade, cupcakes and cakes topped with fluffy buttercream.

David Burke has some pretty big baker's shoes to follow. Yes, he has created some of the states' best restaurant from Morristown to Fort Lee. Yet can he keep one of the Jersey shore's most loved bakeries humble with delicious treats? Let's hope so.

Jubilee Foods Fit For A Queen

 This is the weekend to celebrate Queen Elizabeth's seventy years ruling England and the Commonwealth. There are celebrations galore across the world. There was even a Jubilee pudding  - a dessert- fit for a queen . You don't have to be a subject to enjoy the party. You can have one where ever you are.

The highlight of the celebration is the Jubilee pudding. This is reminiscent of the Coronation chicken which was created when Her Majesty ascended the throne. The Poulet Reine Elizabeth  was conceived by Constance Spry , an English food writer and flower arranger andRosemary Hume. Both were chefs and principals at the Cordon Bleu Cookery in London. Their dish is cold chicken mixed with curry powder or paste. Apricots and almonds are then added along with creme fraiche. Raisins can be subbed in for the apricots. You can still make this today,serving it on a hearty sour dough or toasted potato rolls.  You can also  serve it on it's on on a few Bibb lettuce leaves. The Jubilee pudding is a but different. It is a lemon  Swiss roll and amaretti trifle, created by Jemma Melvin, a copywriter from Southport ,Merseyside outside of Liverpool. Hers is a bit labor intensive but still perfect for any summer party. It's creating Saint Clement's jelly a combination of orange and lemon  along with baking sponges for the Swiss rolls. You also have to make that British classic lemon curd to fill them. Amaretti biscuits must also be made along with a vanilla pudding for the layering. Ms. Melvin decorated the cake with white chocolate and almond shards along with amaretti biscuits.

Of course you could have what many of the street parties have. Sausage rolls,. those yummy cousins of pigs in a blanket graced many a table today  and will tomorrow too.These are easy to make , using a puff pastry crust filled sausage meat and onions. You can also make vegan ones using Beyond Meat's ones. The beautiful county of Cornwall gives us pasties.It's filling a dough square, not unlike an empanada, with beef , potatoes and onions. These can be made in the fall and winter, using winter veggies like parsnips and turnips. You can also make meatless ones , stuffing them with a good sharp Cheddar and potatoes like that great British shop, Greenwich Village's  Myers of Keswick does. A tea would be a fun way to celebrate Her Majesty's reign. Think lovely finger sandwiches filled with egg and ham salads along with salmon. watercress sandwiches are a must as well. Teas also have a sweet side. Think biscuits dripping with rich clotted cream or whipped cream if you can't get the first. A heaping teaspoon of strawberries are placed over this. Small cupcakes called fairy cakes are also served. These are lighter than their American counterparts and have just a drizzle of icing instead of a mound of buttercream. Different teas, from Earl and Lady Greys to Assam are served. These are usually served hot  but you could have them iced too.

Celebrate Elizabeth's reign with a party full of joy and food. It's the best of Britain for the best queen of Britain. Enjoy and raise a glass to Her Majesty!

Testing With A Tasty Sauce

 It's been an interesting experiment  trying out different foods , most are beloved classics to see how this new system  of mine is working.Everything has been fine so far. I  thought I could even try out a new sauce just to see.

I've had Spring Valley cocktail egg rolls in my freezer for weeks. I needed an easy Friday supper, not too heavy but not to light either.

They're an easy cook in my trusty air fryer.It's just seven minutes for 370 degree Farenheit.

They're stuffed with nothing but veggies from shredded cabbage to shredded carrots. I knew they some jazzing up. That's where the scallion sauce comes in.

                                             It's cutting up two scallions and mixing them with these.

Mix together half a cup of spy sauce (it can be low sodium like I used) with about a tablespoon if maple syrup. That last sounds crazy but its' sweetness balances out the soy sauce's saltiness. You can add either olive or vegetable oil for a silkier texture. It's poured over the scallions and left to marinate for about fifteen to twenty minutes.

I liked this sauce and plan on making it again for even the egg rolls I get from my local Chinese take out. The scallions add bite and zing (and haven't bothered my stomach!Yay!)  while the combo of syrup and soy sauce actually work well together. You can add more of both if you're running low on the liquid part. Keep in mind this is also a good marinade for steak and chicken too.

This has been a fun experimentation along with creating new favorites. This sauce is perfect for egg rolls along with other foods. it 's a great sauce for favorite snacks and dishes.