It was great to see many of our customers at our fifth New York Fancy Food Show. Since being on the bottom level left us unvisited for the first two hours each morning, I finally got smart and brought my Animal, Vegetable, Miracle – A Year of Food Life book and was able to finish it. The book led to many interesting conversations and I even showed my raised garden photos off to anyone that would show the slightest interest. If you are familiar with the book, rest assured I have ordered the mozzarella and ricotta kit and am anxiously awaiting its arrival. If you are not familiar with it, it is a must read for anybody who calls themself a foodie (as much as I have come to dislike that term!) Around noon each day our booth was host to a flurry of customers to see the debut of our retail line. We showed samples of all the boxes and had all 9 different appetizers available to taste. Just when I thought we had come up with a definitive crowd favorite another seemed to rise to the top. All in all, I think we had a very nice reception towards the line and we are looking forward to seeing the collection hit the stores.

On the dining front…John and I tried a small Italian restaurant on Tudor City Place called Convivio for dinner one night. It was pouring rain when we arrived and the place was packed, but with a great energy. I insisted on ordering their Arancini and while it was good, I SWEAR ours is even better! Food and Wine had raved about the pasta and how it was a huge process to study the best pasta making techniques and they totally nailed it. Another memorable restaurant was on our last night when we were literally squeezed into Minetta Tavern (thanks to Joe’s sister Susan for her “pull”) …gougeres were served at the bar but we were able to get a plate (I already created some at home this morning- delish! John says they aren’t quite The Perfect Bite yet, but I am on it…) John cannot stop talking about his bone-in New York steak that was charred on the outside and PERFECT on the inside. He took it on the plane home and gnawed to his delight, unfortunately not everyone was delighted by his passion (sorry 16D and 17D.)

We are just getting back into work after the holiday weekend and working on lots of new projects in the test kitchen. For the 4th we made a tasty cherry crisp for dessert (see below) and topped it with a tangy frozen yogurt. We pitted our own cherries using a cherry pitter which is one of my favorite kitchen tools, the kids had a blast helping. Until next time, as I must get back to my garden to squash all those nasty beetles that think they are going to get the best of me…

Cherry Crisp Recipe:
½ cup flour
½ cup oatmeal
½ cup each brown and white sugar
Pinch salt
1 tsp cinnamon
½ cup walnuts or pecans

Place in food processor and pulse to mix, then add one stick butter cut into pieces and pulse until crumbly.

I put this on pitted cherries – some might like it with a bit of sugar but I like it as natural as possible. Bake for 45 minutes at 350 degrees. Homemade lemon ice cream would be incredible…

Until next time,
Teri