Flavors 518

Today I am going to talk about something very serious and that is cakepops. Now, I know they have gotten a bad rap. Elizabeth doesn't like them and Joy the Baker thinks they are lame (you know, all the cool girls). Some say they are a trend that will pass like cupcakes, and I offer the controversial stance that they are better than cupcakes. Cupcakes are not actually that easy to eat with all that extra frosting. In fact, I went to a place in Boston that sold shots of buttercream frosting, and I thought that was just gross. Cakepops are a smaller portion than cupcakes and therefore not as bad for you. Also, they are easier to transport. Here are things that are good about cakepops with some caveats. Of course the idea of smashing up cake and mixing it with frosting seems gross, but I sort of agreed to go in on a pan with my coworker without realizing I was agreeing ( Me: vague and open-ended - "Oh that sounds interesting." Coworker: "That will be $13." Me: ...

This weekend a couple ladies from my book club and I want to the Joan Osborne concert at The Egg, and we stopped by Kinnaree before the show. My friend who suggested it had been there before and really liked it. The same day that we went, the restaurant got four stars from the Times Union . Check out Albany Jane's experience from back in January .  Above is what I got. The Jjam Pong, "a spicy seafood soup with udon noodle, shrimp, squid, scallop, mussel, white fish, vegetables". I really enjoyed the heat of the spice and the variety of the seafood. The vegetables in the soup also tasted really fresh and getting the side dishes without knowing what they were going to be was a fun surprise. Those are a carrot side dish, fish cakes, and bean sprouts. My favorite was the bean sprouts which tasted like they were in sesame oil. Above is Gob dol bi bim bab in a hot stone bowl, that is "an assortment of sautéed vegetables, egg, beef over steam rice served with red...

I'm thrilled to be one of the people chosen to write out the recipe for this week with Tuesdays with Dorie using the book Baking with Julia . If you check out what other people are saying about this recipe , they've summed it up pretty well - it is a sweet crust with a savory filling with the salty bite of prosciutto. Could it use some vegetables? Possibly some nutmeg? All the other bloggers who said that may be right. I do think though that the ricotta filling (I did buy ricotta made with skim) mixed with eggs is probably lower in fat than a quiche filling made with heavy cream - so that is a bonus. Overall, we liked it and my husband even immediately got up for seconds. It is a nice hearty dish that seems ideal cut up in slices and served at room temperature for a dinner party. It would probably be good for a brunch dish with a nice green salad. The other bloggers are right to point out that the fillings can easily be changed up. One problem I had: I read in Thomas Keller...

Today I went to see Joy the Baker at her book signing at Brooklyn Kitchen in Greenpoint. It was ridiculously fun. Check us out: Check out her adorable message signed inside my book: I love her. I was on the fence whether to go or not, and I happened to watch the video on her about page again. I have got to say - the story about her dad and the pie crust gets me every time! Also "I hope you like it - I made it for you!" Ahhh! I just wanted to go so bad! I met some elderly women on the train who couldn't understand why I was on a trip by myself ( perhaps that is a generational difference ) and also could not understand me traveling a few hours to see a food blogger. "She has a blog." Then they said "Is she on PBS?" "No." "The Food Network?" "No, there is a blog." "So this is her first book?" "Yes" "But it is all desserts!" "That's not true, there are a couple of smoothies....

We've lived here almost three years, and up until last Saturday I had only been to Schenectady three times. Once when we first moved here, we missed the turn off for Crossgates and accidentally got on I-90 the same day someone had recommended the Appian Way to us so we ended up there mostly by accident. I checked out Erin Harkes at the Moon and River Cafe once while planning our wedding and looking for a singer for our first dance. A couple weeks ago we saw the RPI/Union hockey game and because none of us knew any restaurants in Schenectady worth going to (including our friend who lives there) we went to Garden Bistro 24 in Colonie . Well, I threw off my annual schedule of visiting the fair city by going again this past weekend because my friend, Jessica, was working back stage at Fiddler on the Roof at the Schenectady Light Opera Company. My husband was out of town, and past times when he has been out of town I've made lavender sorbet for dinner, watched every movie on th...

We like Dragon City Chinese Restaurant on Western Avenue for take-out. Here is the Times Union review I read posted on the wall as I waited for our food . Here is what is good about it: Very cheap. We got enough for like 4 meals for under $20. (Pictured above is the curry beef and the broccoli with garlic sauce, not pictured is the hot and sour soup which my husband, a connoisseur of hot and sour soup, seemed to really enjoy.) Unlike lesser Chinese restaurants you actually get a good amount of fresh tasting vegetables (the above linked Times Union review notes this fact). In this way, Chinese food can be a really cheap take out option that actually offers real vegetables (maybe Wendy's and Taco Bell should offer a side of broccoli?). They are fast too. I browsed their Time magazines from around the time of Hurricane Katrina and when Jonathan Franzen's Freedom came out (far from current), and before I knew it my order was ready. This is good since it can be hard to k...

As part of Tuesdays with Dorie using the book Baking with Julia I made Irish soda bread. Check out the discussion about the recipe here . You can read the recipe here . Here's mine: And served with bacon, eggs, and salad: Here is what I thought about the recipe: It was super easy, took about an hour to make, and has little fat in it. All wins. Mark Bittman has a yeast bread recipe that just rises while the oven preheats, and I never thought it was that great of a recipe since it did not have time to develop. With this soda bread it isn't like you are hurrying it along, it is just meant to not take that much time to make. We love buttermilk (like in buttermilk poundcake !) and we are always looking for ways to use leftover buttermilk. We think it adds a good flavor without a lot of fat. Next time I have 2 extra cups of buttermilk I will just make this. The recipe says it is only good for a few hours, but I made mine on Sunday and it was still good for breakf...