A Global Greenmarket Dinner

While we're on the subject of farm-to-table restaurants...

Mograbieh pilaf with harissa-roasted summer squash, fresh peas, cherries, chermoula, labneh, and toasted pistachios

While it’s nice to know that the food served at such restaurants is fresh and local, unfortunately most of the food served at these places is very similar, with “Modern American” being the best descriptor of the type of cuisine.

But around the world people purchase and eat produce that’s grown locally and freshly harvested. So why don’t we see more of those cuisines represented at these so-called farm-to-table restaurants?

Super Bowl Six-Layer Dip

I’ve never been a big football fan, but for some strange reason, I’ve really gotten into it the past few weeks. And who have I been rooting for? None other than the Baltimore Ravens. Unfortunately, they lost their playoff game this past Saturday, which means I don’t really care about watching the Super Bowl for the game itself, but I’ll be tuned in to the commercials and eating good food during the game. Enter this dip for game time diversion.

Everyone loves seven-layer dip, but it usually involves ground beef, which I am obviously not cool with. And I’m kind of over meat substitutes (Trader Joe’s soy chorizo, I’m looking at you), so I just left out the seventh layer and made this a six-layer dip. Blasphemy, I know, but it’s tasty, I swear, and you’ll never miss that seventh layer.

Cake is Awesome! Another review of Charm City Cakes

Yes it is, and the one pictured above most certainly is! (As is written on his head!)

This past Saturday night, Matt and I went to a party hosted by Threadless and Charm City Cakes. Threadless is one of my favorite clothing purveyors - they make t-shirts based on user-submitted designs, and I own far too many of them (such as this, this, and this, and yes, I love giraffes). If you don't know what Charm City Cakes is, check out their website - they're an incredible bakery here in Baltimore that turns out anything but the standard cake, and they have a show on Food Network. But what does Threadless have to do with Charm City Cakes?

Miracle Fruit Party!

This past Friday, I hosted a party for my fellow Baltimore food bloggers. The special guest? Miracle fruit!

For those of you who aren't familiar with it, miracle fruit is a tiny berry that, when eaten, causes sour foods to taste sweet. The berries contain a protein that is aptly named miraculin. Miraculin binds to the sweet receptors on taste buds but it doesn't trigger the taste bud. Instead, its free end binds to acids (which taste sour), at which point the sweet receptor is triggered, thereby creating the sensation of acidic foods tasting sweet. After eating miracle fruit, lemons taste like lemon candy, sour patch kids are irresistibly sweet, and raw hubarb loses its bite and becomes incredibly palatable. (You can watch a video of me giving a more in-depth description of the fruits here.)

oh my

What a night it was. I threw a belated birthday cocktail party last night and it went off wonderfully. Everyone had a great time and, to my delight, everyone loved all the food I made. (I would hope so - I was in the kitchen all day long yesterday and I had also done a little bit of prep on the previous evenings!) I worked really hard, but I didn't mind it all all because I love hosting parties. One day when I win the lottery, I am going to quit my day job and become a professional party thrower. But since I don't play the lottery, I'm not going to quit my day job anytime soon.