Flavors 518

On Memorial Day weekend, Ms. Garlic and I decided to take a trip to the Hudson Valley.  On the way down, we decided to check out the Crossroads Brewing Company in Athens (across the river from Hudson).  I'm a big fan of their Outrage IPA, a nicely balanced west-coast style that is commonly available in Albany.   As it turns out, they've opened a nice pub in a newly renovated building.   We can't say a great deal about the food, since we just split a salad, although it was really good -- real greens (not just iceberg or romaine) with other fresh veggies and a nice homemade vinagrette.  For the "main course," we decided to try the above-pictured flight of six beers.   All were at least decent.  I was particularly impressed with the lovely Black Rock Stout and the Abbey Road Dubbel, with the Homewrecker 2xIPA a close third.   Ms. Garlic was also a big fan of the Brick Row Red, which I also quite liked.   I wasn't overwhelmed...

The meal pictured above wasn't the typical version of this recipe, since the cauliflower we had turned out not to be usable, so we had to improvise with broccoli instead. (Which worked fine!) But this is a really good one. How does one go about making it, you might ask? Well: Cut enough cauliflower (or broccoli) for your party into florets, quickly blanch.  Season cod (or other whitefish filets) with salt and pepper. Heat a little olive oil in a 12 inch skillet over medium heat. OPTIONAL BUT REALLY GOOD: mince an anchovy or two and put into the oil at this stage. Add the cauliflower, sautee for a few minutes.  Add a minced shallot and a minced jalapeno pepper, saute for a couple more minutes. Add a clove or three (I would say the latter) of garlic, saute for 30 seconds of so. Add several fresh tomatoes (if in season) or a can (14 or 28 ox/ depending on the amount of fish) of high-quality canned tomatoes, diced either way.  Let them cook down for a couple ...

You know it is spring around here when the Jim's Tastee Freez opens up again! We tend to think that the Kurver Kreme is a little overrated. We haven't been to all the places in the area (we still want to visit On the Farm in Latham), but we really like the Tastee Freez. My husband loves the Boston Shake ( see also Mr. Dave's post from three years ago - probably where Scott got the idea to try it to begin with), which is vanilla soft serve in a chocolate shake. On this particular day, they had pistachio soft serve. I can't be sure that any real pistachios were included in the concoction, but it was refreshing and delicious with a nice mild flavor. I'll never understand why pistachio flavored things have to be green. I was raised with green pistachio pudding, and then eventually went to Belgium where their amazing white pistachio ice cream sort of blew my mind. But this green stuff made into a marshmallow sundae - I also enjoy. Working on a college ...

I'm feeling really hopeful about the future of Troy nowadays. Back last year when the Pioneer Co-op closed, I wasn't feeling as hopeful. I have a friend who used to shop there who now walks across the bridge to use the Watervliet Price Chopper (its not their best location). I really feel that things are looking up though, and not in a way like realtors have been saying that Long Island City in Queens has been looking up for the last ten years - where they build luxury condos assuming other businesses will follow, and they never seem to (unless you want to count the gentlemen's clubs under the subway tracks). The Troy Farmer's Market is great. Next week is the first week they are going to be outside, and as a bonus they are also going to keep things going an hour later (untill 2). They are also adding a twilight market on Friday nights. Some of our favorites at the market include: Danascara Cheese , Pika's Farm Table (I really like to throw a couple of their quic...

Cheryl Clark definitely speaks the truth about the Tara Kitchen here . The tagines there are remarkably flavorful, and I also love the atmosphere. One one the best food values in the Capital Region. The chicken with preserved lemon and olives pictured in the photo is what I had, and it was remarkably good.

I was in Michigan last week on my way to a work errand in Chicago, and my grandfather said to me at his 90th birthday party "How can you stand to live in a place you aren't from?" It was an interesting question. He was asking me about my new-ish job and Saratoga, and I said to him "I think you can like many places".  I've taken to this new theory nowadays that there can be several happy endings to everyone's stories, instead of only one. Perhaps life is less fated, and more "Choose Your Own Adventure".  I went to Chicago where I met up with some friends of ours who are originally from the San Francisco area and moved to Albany around the same time we did. We went to a Starbucks that serves wine (what? what? see for yourself below! It was great fun actually!) They talked about the difficulty of moving to a new area, the difficulty of making friends, finding work, and fostering a sense of community. They didn't seem to like Chicago...

I know you are dying to hear about what I did for my birthday. Like any good birthday, I dragged it out to a birthday week and a half. First, it turns out that I share my birthday with Yoko Ono. I have, funny enough, been attending a Yoko Appreciators Group, Air Talk and they instructed all the members to bring in anything they could imagine to decorate a cake with. I bake a tie-dyed chiffon cake with cream cheese icing. The whole thing became way more riduculous than you could ever imagine.   Did my coworker find a picture of me on the internet and glue it into John and Yoko's bed-in? Yes, yes she did! That seems like some kind of love right there.  On my birthday, I went to work. My boss handed me some delicious homemade triple chocolate cookies at lunch, which was way sweet of her. I was feeling very contemplative and tried to imagine what I could say I learned in 31 years. I think most of all, things change in life. You might define who you think you are based...