On January 30, food world celebrities will band together to raise money for the United Nations World Food Programme's Fund for Haiti under the direction of a Westport resident and with the sponsorship of Saugatuck Nursery School and Saugatuck Congregational Church.
In an atmosphere of Caribbean music and food, the fundraiser's emcee, Food Network’s Daisy Martinez, will auction dinner for four with her at famed Puerto Rican dining establishmentDon Coqui in New Rochelle, N.Y. She will also personalize two copies of her latest cookbook for two winning bidders.
Up for bid will be signed copies of “Julie & Julia” from Julie Powell, food writer and cookbook author Molly O’Neill’s “New York Cookbook” and “Mostly True,” cookbooks from Rick Moonen of “Top Chef Masters,” and a cookbook signed by its illustrator, "The New Yorker" cartoonist Ed Koren.
All proceeds will go to the United Nations World Food Programme's Fund for Haiti.
Auction winners will be announced at 3:15 p.m. the day of the fundraiser.
Have you ever walked into a cheese shop, and been utterly confusedby the array of choices in front of you? For those of you who just nodded your heads, let me introduce you to Fairfield Cheese Company. Their bright beautiful retail space, right next door to Harry's Wine and Liquors, serves as a canvas for carefully chosen specialty foods and an impeccable selection of artisinal and locally produced farmstead cheeses. When Laura Downey and Christopher Palumbo opened their doors in May of 2009, they did so with a purposeful dedication to demystifying the daunting process of buying cheese and introducing their customers to the range and craftsmanship of artisan cheeses. "Cheese stores can be intimidating. We wanted to take away the mystique….It's not rocket science" says Laura.
It is still really dark at 4:30 AM , but the pre-dawn hours hold transformative powers. Darkness will turn to light and the promise of a new day will be realized. Sometimes, both happen sooner than you expect.
When we arrive at the SoNo Baking Company for a behind-the-scenes tour, it's shortly before 5:00 a.m., but the aroma of warm yeasty bread has transformed two half-asleep writers into bakers in training. Owner, John Barricelli, welcomes us in through the still dark café, chairs resting upside down on tables; display cases standing empty. Our eyes have to adjust as we walk through the sleepy cafe into the brightly lit kitchen. Suddenly awake, we are immediately caught up in the rhythm of the bakers at work.
If you have a teen chef at home, or if you are a teen’s chef, you’ll be well served to head to the Westport Barnes and Noble on Tuesday, Dec. 15th, at 7:00 pm. for a book signing and tasting to celebrate the release of Rozanne Gold’s latest cookbook, EAT FRESH FOOD: Awesome Recipes for Teen Chefs. For this venture Gold recruited a brigade of teens, six of whom are Westport residents: Danielle Hartog (15), Deanna Hartog (11), Gwen Beal (15), Andrew Miller (15), Caroline Foster (15), Margaux Stamm (15) who helped recipe test and taste many of the 80+ recipes in this book.
FRESH stands for: farmer friendly, ripe-ready, easy-exciting, sustainable and honest-healthy and this book lives up to its name. Don’t think this is another cute kids’ cookbook. This is a book for teens, written by a James Beard award-winning chef and author who has teen’s interests, sensibilities and taste buds in mind. Gold has chosen recipes with few ingredients, 6-8 on average and that are easy to make, most take about 30 minutes prep. Only recipes the teen chefs and tasters loved and had a good time making are included in the book; those that made the cut are inspiring.
Every year, I buy one of those boxed gingerbread house kits and my kids and I go at it. We glop it together with that glue-like petroleum by-product substance that they call icing, we decorate with the stale jelly beans and mini gum balls they provide, and we call it a day. It’s fun and the kids enjoy it. Do yours? If so, head to the Stamford Museum and Nature Center (SM and NC) this month and next to see how the pros do it. “Visions of Gingerbread: The Sweetest Architects” is the name of the exhibition that the museum is presenting as both a showcase for local bakers and as a fundraiser for the SM and NC.
Wish you could throw a party in your own home, where people could meander from room to room to avoid that stuffy, restaurant feel? Hate being stuck at some long, rectangular table where the only person you are speaking to is the one right next to you? (You know, the one that you had been trying NOT to get stuck with.) Want to be relaxed and enjoy the food with your guests while someone else prepares, serves, and cleans up? Want to stop worrying about the red wine spilling on your white sofas? Tired of stressing about the fancy gadgets in your medicine cabinet that people might discover while they “powder” and snoop? Have your (organic) cake and eat it too at Jennifer Balin’s eclectic and fabulous “space” in Norwalk. SUGAR and OLIVES is the name and quirky and sensational is the game!
Sometimes as Fairfield County residents, it is easy to get wrapped up in the daily suburban grind, a world of strip malls and meals on the go. Given all the white noise of routine life, it is nice to occasionally escape from the carpools and commuting…andhead to the farm. With its open space, beauty, and serenity, you can be transported...nourished. Many of us journey to the fields as an annual Fall ritual to pick pumpkins and apples, drink cider, or get lost in a hay maze, but the beautiful farms of rural CT can offer much more than just kid-friendly fun.
Last week I attended a "Meet Me at the Farm" lunch on the Sport Hill Farm in Easton.
If you’re like me and think that cooking authentic Indian food requires a Tandoori oven, a trove of exotic spices and years of apprenticeship with your Indian grandmother, then put away that Bombay takeout menu because local chef Preeti Sikri is unlocking the secrets of Indian cooking with her ongoing series of classes called CurryOmCurry.
I attended her latest group class covering “Indian Breads” at a Westport home this week with two friends. We learned to prepare all those yummy breads I love to order but never thought I’d make at home
