Chocolate Revisited

Alice Medrich's book Bittersweet: Recipes and Tales from a Life in Chocolate was published a little over a year ago, since then I've noticed how crazy we are for chocolate. Again. It seems we are rediscovering how great chocolate is, especially bittersweet chocolate. I've also noticed how many companies are making hot chocolate products (mixes, powders, etc.) Not hot cocoa, but hot chocolate, big difference. Hot chocolate is made with chocolate which contains chocolate liquor (not alcoholic) and cocoa butter. Cocoa is a powder and contains no cocoa butter. Cocoa butter is the fatty part of chocolate that gives chocolate its richness. Perhaps you've also noticed a number of spicy hot chocolates on the market? Hot chocolate in many variations, often Aztec or Maya inspired, is becoming quite popular. In fact, Starbucks has just introduced a new super decadent hot chocolate called Chantico , named after the Aztec goddess of hearth and fire. A 6-ounce cup has 390 ca......

Continue reading

RNM:Restaurant Review CLOSED

After all the festivities of November and December who wants to eat out in January? Well, I do! And you will too especially if you take advantage of Dine About Town a January promotion whereby you can eat in a whole roster of terrific restaurants for $21.95 for lunch and $31.95 for dinner. Not exactly cheap, but the restaurants are some really outstanding ones. I keep a list of places I would like to try and yet another list of places I would like to return to (when my budget allows). But you know how it is, one tends to go to the same places over and over again. That's what makes Dine About Town so great. It's the perfect excuse to try a restaurant that you might otherwise not make it to. Some of the restaurants on my list to try or try again are 1550 Hyde , A16 and Fringale . I've been wanting to eat at RNM for quite some time and while my dining companion tried and thoroughly enjoyed the three course Dine About Town prix fixe meal, I was happy to make my selecti......

Continue reading

Tapas to Meze:Cookbook

I'm sure I used to like the winter. I used to vacation in the mountains and alps. I used to go skiing. I used to spend hours gazing at the falling snow, sipping hot chocolate from a cozy lodge. But not anymore. The minute it gets cold or begins to rain or heaven forbid both, I start whining. Home for less than two weeks and I long to be back in Mexico enjoying the warmth and the sunshine. One way to overcome the winter blues is to transport yourself to the Mediterranean and short of plane tickets, I can think of no better way than by reading Joanne Weir's latest cookbook out in paperback, From Tapas to Meze . There are several reasons to love this book. One is the glorious photographs. Another is the delightful introductions to each recipe. Weir shares secrets and stories with her readers, inviting them into her confidence. But the main reason to love this book is the recipes themselves, all 160 of them. This book covers all kinds of recipes from countries like Spain, It......

Continue reading

All About Pears

Summer is fruit season. But one special fruit is in all it's glory in the wintertime--pears. Pears are one of the world's oldest cultivated fruits. They probably originated in Asia but they have been cultivated in Europe since at least 2000 BC. In France, Louis XIV popularized pears by proclaiming them his favorite fruit. The pear was later introduced into the New World by the colonists. There are thousands of varieties of pears. Pear trees are can last 50 to 75 years, and anyone who has grown a pear tree knows that the fruit only ripens off the tree. Doyenne du Comice means "top of show" and has gained the reputation as the best tasting pear. It was first produced in France in 1849. It is a pale green-yellow fruit with pinkish-red flushing. It it juicy, sweet and almost buttery flavored. It must be cross pollinated with a Bosc or Bartlett. The largest varieties of Comice are often sold at Christmas time. We got a box of them from some friends and have b......

Continue reading