The Perfect Bite

Snowmageddon

If you don’t live in the Mid-Atlantic region and haven’t been watching the news, then you are probably quite unaware that Snowmageddon is upon us…and isn’t done yet!  Where we are, between DC & Baltimore, we have over 3 feet of snow with another 10-20 inches forecasted for tomorrow night.  The snowbanks in our neighborhood are already over 5 feet tall…we don’t have anyplace left to put the stuff!  We can’t possibly get more!

 

 

 But more than Mother Nature’s plan for an area that is really unequipped to deal with such storms as they are few and far between, we are perplexed by the residents of the area.  This storm had been forecasted for a week – everyone knew it was coming and emptied out the grocery stores.  Yet, on Sunday, the 1^st day people could safely leave their homes, they ran to the grocery stores.  Our friends Becky and Kerry (who, incidentally are leaving for the Atlantis tomorrow and will miss the next onslaught of Mother Nature) ventured out on Sunday and reported that there was a major traffic jam at our grocery store.  What?  The shelves were empty on Friday, people, did you only buy enough food for 3 days? 

 

We were prepared.  We had done a complete week’s worth of shopping on Thursday, but did go back to the grocery store on Friday when we were informed that our teenage son was having a few buddies over for the weekend.  We knew one week’s worth of food wouldn’t be enough for even 1 night when growing teenage boys were involved.  On Friday morning the vegetable bins were bare, the store was a mess and out of many items. 

 

So here’s the real question:  Why did shoppers think the grocery store shelves were suddenly stocked when the highways were closed and there was no way for the food to actually get here?  He-llo!!!!

 

As we said, we were fine.  We shoveled, we cooked, we ate, we drank.  We enjoyed lots of wine especially our beloved Black Chicken and Le Bijou!  Plus, we enjoyed lots and lots of hot chocolate.  We love it spicy!  Our friend Terri was recently in the Big Apple and ventured to the 35^th floor of the Mandarin Oriental Hotel.  She enjoyed the house specialty – spicy white hot chocolate – while enjoying an aerial view of Central Park.  She raved about this sweet, piquant concoction and was ready to order another, but alas, she was kicked out because the Black-Eyed Peas were coming in and the bar would be closed to the public.  Fergie, hope your spicy white hot chocolate was Fergalicious!

 

 

 Perfect Sip – Quick Spiced Hot Chocolate

Make an 8-oz. cup of hot chocolate however you choose, homemade or instant

Add 1/8 tsp cinnamon, 1/8 tsp nutmeg and 1/8 tsp chili powder.

Add a large marshmallow and you’re set to enjoy!

 

For the Love of Farms

We love farmers’ markets.  If you’ve never been to one we highly recommend it.  It’s so much fun walking down the aisles looking at the gorgeous bounty of produce and home-baked goodies – even farm-fresh eggs. 

 

So when we learned about the Public Market Complex in St. John’s, Antigua, we just had to go.  We were curious to see how it would differ from those we’ve been to at home.  The Public Market is located at the intersection of Market St., Valley Rd., & All Saints Rd.  Across the street are the Antigua Fisheries and the Public Meat Market.

 

 

Located just outside is a massive bronze bust of V.C. Bird the former Prime Minister of Antigua & Barbuda.

 

The lively market is filled with noise and excitement; it’s open weekdays, but the best time to visit is Saturday morning when vendors from all over the island appear with local produce.  The colors, shapes & sizes are truly tropical!  The open-air market is bustling with activity as local residents come to do their shopping.

 

The streets around the actual building are lined with tables and carts overflowing with a variety of fresh and colorful Antiguan fruits and vegetables, specialty imported canned goods, clothing & crafts as far as the eye can see.  Everyone is friendly unless you have a camera, then they are suspect. 

 

The most beautiful display we found was a table filled with sorrel.  Our taxi driver Hillie told us sorrel is a dried hibiscus flower used to make a popular Caribbean drink during the holidays.  According to Hillie, sorrel tea has medicinal qualities and is loved by adults and children alike.  During the holidays, the adults add rum (what else?) to the tea. 

 
Gorgeous, colorful sorrel

 

She was gracious enough to give us her recipe though the measurements aren’t exact.  We look forward to trying it.  Cheers!

 

Hillie’s Caribbean Sorrel Tea

1 cup sorrel

1 tsp cloves

1 tbl minced ginger

1 cup simple syrup (1 cup water boiled with 1 sup sugar)

1 tsp orange zest (optional)

dark rum (optional)

 

Bring 2 quarts water to a boil.  Add sorrel, cloves and ginger (and optional zest).

Boil for 30 minutes then remove from heat.

Cover and steep overnight (or up to 24 hours – it will thicken as it steeps).

Strain the tea and add the simple syrup.  The consistency will be thick and syrupy.

Chill.

To serve:  for children add club soda

                 for adults add club soda and rum

 

Find Your Place in the Sun

Did you miss us?  We’ve been gone a bit because we were traveling.  We found our perfect place in the sun – Antigua.  Ahhhhhh…the warm sun rays kissed our skin and warmed us to the bones.  But, we returned to the cold against our better judgment (if only we didn’t have so many responsibilities…). 

 

Now those weather “experts” are calling for more snowy weather.  We have a foolproof plan to think “warm” and remind us of our very recent trip to Antigua.  We’ll get the fireplace roaring, put on shorts, and break out the blender!

 

Meet Althea & Omarie.  They were our bartenders at the pool bar – and they blend a mean drink or 2…or 20.

   

 Althea balancing her Althea’s Special & Omarie showing off his Tropical Rainbow

 

We enjoyed a very lazy day relaxing in the pool, reading in the cabana, playing organized games like “Name That Tune” and drinking icy cold concoctions to loosen up and cool down!

 
Floating around:  Darlene’s sister Sheila, her husband Fred, & friend Lisa

 

 

 The sumptuously luxurious poolside cabana

 

The bar was one hopping spot. 1 side is a walk up and the remaining 3 are poolside with underwater stools. 6 bartenders are kept busy all day every day…so they’re fast and they really know their drinks. We spent a fair amount of time just sitting in the water talking to each other and our bartenders who were so much fun.

 

They were kind enough to give us their recipes.  Most are original creations from their bar (Sandals Grande Antigua).  They don’t measure they just pour and blend.  Try these recipes to send your senses off to the Caribbean and when you’ve polished them off, make up your own concoctions.

 

Cheers!

 

 
Althea’s Special

Apple Pucker

Peach Schnapps

White Rum

Passion Fruit Juice

Pineapple Juice

Simple Syrup

Ice

Tropical Rainbow

Vodka

Peach Schnapps

Banana Liqueur

Passion Fruit Juice

Grenadine

Ice

 

Bob Marley

Passion Fruit Juice

Strawberry Juice

Apple Pucker

Ice

 

 

 Chocolate Monkey

Chocolate Syrup

Banana

Rum

Crème de Cacao

Amaretto (optional)

Ice

 

 
Bananarama

Milk

Banana

White Rum

Coconut Cream

Blue Curaçao

Ice

 

 

 
Banana Sip Sop

Dark Rum

Coconut Milk

Grenadine

Banana

Ice

 

McLaren Vale South Australia “Where the vines meet the Sea”

By Sharon Kneebone

 

In 1999 we returned to South Australia to visit my husband’s family and ring in the new Millennium.   For those fans of big, bold Australian red wines you most likely know that South Australia is home to the Barossa Valley and the McLaren Vale.  My in-laws live about 20 minutes from the beautiful Barossa and about 40 minutes north of the McLaren Vale.   We had been to the Barossa a couple of times and wanted to visit a different wine region.  We left the kids with Nana and Papa and headed south for a couple days away. 

  Sharon & Scott Kneebone

 

We stayed at the Inn at the McLarens, just down the street from the McLaren Vale Visitor Center. The Inn was the quintessential Aussie motel complete with inexpensive spacious rooms and a tin roof.  It was a great staging area to visit the vale’s cellar doors.  We spent the day sampling wines of the vale with a stop at Chapel Hill Cellar Door, a lovely sampling room set in a converted Australian chapel.

 

The Inn at the McLarens

 

One of our favorite wineries is Tintara, part of the Hardys family.  We purchased the Hardys world class Whiskers Blake Port there and have shared it judiciously with our close friends.  One of our favorite Shiraz wines is Tintara.  It is a full-bodied bold Aussie wine that is characteristic of the McLaren Vale region.  By far, our favorite wine maker from the McLaren Vale is Molly Dooker.  It is now widely available in the States and we’ve introduced it to all of our friends.

 

After a full day of touring the vale we had a wonderful dinner at the Barn Bistro.  One of the specials that evening was Kangaroo Steak cooked to perfection.  The Barn is a historic building housing a fine Australian Restaurant in the McLaren Vale. Far and away, my favorite site was cresting a hill with sloping vines to my left, a kangaroo bounding between the rows, and the sight of the ocean in the distance.

 

My favorite view – the ocean is off to the right.

 

The trek to the McLaren Vale is well worth the time, expense and effort.  Some of the world’s greatest Shiraz wines come from the area with an abundance of fresh Australian food.

 

"It is an ideal spot, and the ideal liquid inspiration, to try to figure out a way to live near this tiny piece of paradise between the voluptuous hills of wine
and the aquamarine sea."                                --The Wine Roads of Australia by Susan Gough Henly

Sharon and Scott Kneebone live in Baltimore, Maryland with their 2 children.  Besides Shiraz, they like lacrosse, musical theatre, and entertaining friends.

The Passing of a Napa Patriarch

This weekend the wine world said goodbye to a Napa patriarch - 80-year-old Aldo Biale of Robert Biale Vineyards.  The Biale family has been growing Zinfandel grapes in Napa since the 1930’s.  If you’re a zin-ophile like us you’ll recognize the Biale name – they produce two of the Zin market’s most highly acclaimed and recognizable Zins – Aldo’s Vineyard and Black Chicken.

Prized Zinfandel grapes growing at the Biale vineyard.

 

We had the distinct pleasure of visiting Robert Biale Vineyards.  When we first arrived on the property we were greeted by the vineyard mascots Gus & Buddy. We proceeded to the tasting room where we met Kandice who introduced us to the complete line of Biale wines – more than just Zins.   When Kandice took us out back to show us the crushing facilities we met up with Steve Hall the winemaker…and did we have a lot to talk to Steve about – not just wine, but the Baltimore area as his mom lives there.

Winemaker Steve Hall with our friend Paul and Eric.

Steve was a gracious host and exceptional teacher allowing us to try juices from several pressings that had been fermenting for 10-14 days.  He could tell by tasting the sweet nectar how good the vintage would be with aging. 

The juicy goodness of Biale Zin.

 

 

Our favorite Biale story is from the 1940’s when Aldo was running an Italian farm in the heart of Napa.  Customers would call on the phone (a party line back in those days) to place their order for eggs, produce, and a “black chicken” – code for a jug of bootleg wine.  Even Aldo’s wife Clemintina didn’t understand why the customers wanted “black chickens” because the white chickens were better.

The Biale mascots: Gus & Buddy.

 

We recommend you try Biale wines and if you become a fellow Biale Zin-ophile we further recommend you become a member of the Black Chicken Society.  Visit Biale on the web to find out more and, by all means, if you can visit the vineyard it’s a trip not to be missed.  We’re considering becoming official Biale Zinterns for next year’s crush!

 

 Zin vines at Biale.

 

 

 

 

When in Rho Dyland…

It’s The State of Rhode Island and Providence Plantations (aka: Rhode Island, Little Rhody, the Ocean State), but it’s not Long Island.  Long Island is in New York.  Rhode Island is a state (the smallest state in the US) located on the Atlantic Ocean right between Connecticut and Massachusetts.

 

Rhode Island has its own language (sometimes) and its own culture – part New England, part New York, part Italian, part Portuguese, part everything else.  And, in all honesty, a vast portion of southeastern Massachusetts is very Rhode Island-ish – this area includes Fall River, New Bedford and Dartmouth – yeah, Emeril’s from this area and talks just like the native he is.

 

Food is very much a part of RI culture.  Did you know that RI is the biggest selling state of Pampered Chef products?  How can that be?  It’s the smallest state in the country, but has the most cooks per capita because the Italian and Portuguese cultures are big on homemade meals.  And when they’re not eating at home, they’re eating at one of the many family restaurants in the state. 

 

We’ve listed some perfect bites that we feel you cannot leave RI without trying:

 

One stop that’s a must is Twin Oaks Restaurant – a RI institution since 1933.  They are known for their baked stuffed shrimp.

 Surf & Turf - filet mignon with 2 famous baked stuffed shrimp 

 

They are also known for their cold lobster plate – 3-4 lobster tails steamed and served chilled on a bed lettuce for only $30!

 

Their antipasto is always 1^st rate, but their snail salad is top notch!  What is snail salad?  Sliced snails, shaved celery, and shaved onion, marinated in an herb vinaigrette.  It’s delicious!

 

 Another stop that should be at the top of your list is Del’s Lemonade.  It’s a slushy lemon drink made with real lemon juice and they even chop the lemons and add them to the mix too!  There are Del’s retail stores, but they have a fleet of trucks that roam the state like the Good Humor Man.  We’d pick Del’s over the Good Humor Man any day!

 

Chourico [shoo-reese’] and Linguica [lin-gwee’-suh] are Portuguese sausages (hot and mild, respectively) that are used in virtually any meal – very popular at breakfast with eggs.  They are basically the Portuguese version of Spanish chorizo.

 

 

Kids in RI grow up addicted to caffeine because they drink coffee milk all day long.  It’s just like chocolate milk, except you substitute coffee syrup for the chocolate syrup.   Coffee (caw’ – fee) milk is the perfect accompaniment to a Fluffernutter (pronounced fluff - ah - nut - tah) sandwich.

  Clam shacks are found all along the RI coast.  They have their own unique foods: 

 

Clam chowder…in RI it’s a clear broth.  Natives eat all 3 versions, cream, tomato & clear, but we think you can find clear and tomato in almost every part of the country, so we recommend you try the clear for an authentic treat.

 

Clamcakes…nothing at all like a crabcake, but instead a ball of dough with minced clams and deep fried.

 

Stuffies or stuffed quahogs (pronounced co’- hawgs) are a great treat.  The quahog meat is chopped up and mixed with ground chourico, breadcrumbs, onions, and spices.  This concoction is stuffed into ½ the quahog shell and baked.  A quahog is a clam, but in Rhody they are named by their size from small to large: little necks, cherrystones, chowder clams/quahogs.

Quahogs

Stuffies

 

Dough boys – these are the best!  They are small squares of dough deep fried then rolled in sugar and cinnamon. 

 

Let’s talk about a grinder (grin’ – dah).  No, it doesn’t actually grind anything…it’s what Rhode Islanders call a sub, hoagie, hero, etc.  A grinder is definitely better than the previously mentioned sandwiches because it’s served hot.  In other words, no matter what your filling (eggplant parm, meatball, steak & cheese, Italian cold cuts) the entire grinder is put into the pizza oven so the cheese melts and bread gets slightly crispy. 

 

Hot wieners are another famous Rhody specialty dating back to the 1930’s (NY System Hot Wieners).  They are wieners in a natural casing that come in a rope form which are put into a steamed hotdog roll with mustard, celery salt, and onion, then topped with the famous sauce made with finely ground beef and spices. If you’re a fan of Showtime’s Brotherhood, Tommy Caffee had many meetings at this Olneyville haunt. 

 

Jonnycakes are pancakes made with cornmeal.  They are served in many RI diners.

 

A cabinet is not a piece of furniture.  It’s actually an ice cream drink also known as a frappe in Massachusetts, but the rest of the world calls it a milkshake.  The vast majority of the time a cabinet is coffee flavored.

 

Cowlick Cone – a specialty at Newport Creamery.  It’s an ice cream cone dipped in chocolate, then rolled in nuts.  The chocolate hardens and the ice cream melts, and it’s an ooey gooey, but most delicious mess. 

And finally, we must talk about pizza strips.  They are a true RI staple.  Many bakeries carry them but our ultimate favorite are made by D. Palmieri’s.  They’re great for parties, the beach, or just plain old snacking.

 

An FYI – grilled pizza has been the rage for a good while, but you should know it originated with George Germon and Johanne Killeen the husband and wife team at Al Forno.  When in RI, trying their original grilled pizza is a must!