November 4, 2010 · 2:00 am

Flip, Flip, Flipadelphia

Hey, did you know Philadelphia is ridiculously close to New York City? And that it’s a pretty sweet city? If you’re a New Yorker, you probably already knew this. I did not. Don’t judge me, k?

Last weekend I took the quick train ride to Philadelphia, our brother to the left (that’s what they call it, right?), specifically for a haunted house but generally to eat my face off. When we asked the bellhop at our hotel for good, close, diner food he didn’t hesitate. “Little Pete’s,” he told us. Apparently everyone else in the city heard, too, as the tiny speck-of-a-spot was packed to the gills. If you’re ever in Philly and in need of centrally located, delicious diner food with old school charm (the dude sitting next to me knew each waitress, busboy, and cook by name) then Little Pete’s is your place.

Little Pete’s 219 S 17th Street, Philadelphia, PA. Little Pete’s has been around for decades, and I’m going to go ahead and say not much has changed in the last thirty years. There are maybe 4 regular sized tables and the rest of the place is counter space (which still worked for us, a group of 4). The food is fast, delicious, cheap, and easy. Some might say the same about me.

Kiddingggg.

Verdict: As The Boyfriend said, “Man, you housed that!” ‘Nuff said. Of course, I ordered the eggs benedict and my ONLY criticism is the cheese. Why oh why oh why do restaurants put cheese in their eggs benedict? This dish was bizarrely prepared, clearly thrown under the broiler to crisp up the delicious buttery hollandaise sauce on top. I kind of loved it. The eggs underneath were still perfectly poached, which is always a concern of mine when ordering E.B. The “Canadian bacon” was actually a ham steak the size of my face, but I’m not complaining. Little Pete’s also gets points for allowing me to order a single pancake (I like to taste them, okay?) as an appetizer. I left Little Pete’s full and happy and ready to run the Rocky steps at the Philadelphia Museum of Art. Which I did. Here’s some proof, in case you needed it.

That's my victory face.

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November 2, 2010 · 2:00 am

The Martha Stewart Show

The studio

Yesterday was such an amazing experience. Not only did I get to fully participate in a taping of The Martha Stewart Show, but I met some amazing food bloggers and got to see the inner workings of a talk show that focuses on food. If you didn’t follow the live Twitter feed yesterday (you can still read the Tweets here) this is a brief recap.

After waiting in the freezing November cold at 8:30 AM, the audience was ushered in, given name tags, and then the Twitterers were herded into a separate green room to get the low down on what would happen during the show. After the intro, we got a quick tour of the studio and then we sat down. I was front row. Because that’s where they put the prettiest people, in case you are not television-savvy.

There were two rows of Twitterers, all posting to #MarthaTweets and we even caused a trending topic! Word.

Now on to the important stuff. The cookies. Oh, the cookies. Did you know they bake all of the cookies on The Martha Stewart Show right there in their very own test kitchen? So when they hand out these cookies to the audience members, you’re eating something that was baked that day right in the same room.

A sugar cookie with organic milk from Manhattan Milk (click the pic for a link!)

The sugar cookie was followed up by a Mexican hot chocolate cookie, an almond mouse cookie, and a coconut sandwich cookie. We also got to taste a cranberry coin cookie. I knew I skipped breakfast for a reason.

The Martha Stewart Show also premiered the brand new Martha Cookie app for the iPad, which made me sad that I am poor, and lustful for that beautiful piece of technology. A girl can dream…

The Tweeters with Martha Stewart

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October 29, 2010 · 2:00 am

Big News!

Today I found out I’ll be attending a taping of The Martha Stewart Show on Monday! They’ve invited a group of 10 food Twitterers to Live Tweet the cookie episode that tapes live at 10AM, this Monday, November 1. I’m so excited! And so honored. Follow the live Twitter feed (I’ll have the link Monday from the show!) and if you’re not already my follower on Twitter… what the H are you waiting for?

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October 28, 2010 · 2:00 am

Grape Lady: Fail

One of my VERY few flaws (quiet, you) is laughing when people fall. I just can not help myself. YouTube is rife with clips of people tumbling off tables, diving boards, stages… But in the interest of keeping this blog food-related (and seasonal!) I bring you this. I watched it at my desk at work and snorted trying to keep my laughter inside.

Ouch, Grape Lady. Ouch.

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October 27, 2010 · 2:00 am

Hey Punkin!

Even though the temperatures in New York feel more like June than October, I can not help but crave everything pumpkin. I suddenly remembered a point last year when I went to the grocery store to get a can of pumpkin and they were sold out. I would not let that happen again. Thankfully, they were fully stocked and I am now the proud owner of six cans of pure, delicious pumpkin. Don’t judge.

On the menu:
Pumpkin chocolate chip cookies
Adapted from this recipe at AllRecipes.com

1 cup pure canned pumpkin
1 cup sugar
1/4 cup vegetable oil
1 egg
2 cups flour
2 tsp baking powder
2 tsp ground cinnamon
1 tsp ground nutmeg
1/2 tsp salt
1 tsp baking soda
1 tsp milk
1 Tbsp pure vanilla extract
2 cups milk chocolate chips

Preheat oven to 350 degrees.

Mix together pumpkin, sugar, vegetable oil, and egg. In a separate bowl, soft together flour, baking powder, cinnamon, nutmeg, and salt. Dissolve the baking soda in the milk. Add to the flour mixture. Add flour mixture to the pumpkin mixture until completely blended. Add vanilla and chocolate chips.

Drop cookies by spoonful onto a greased cookie sheet. Bake for 10 – 12 minutes, or until the edges are brown*. Let cool for at least ten minutes, or until you literally can not take it anymore. Pour a glass of milk. Eat your cares away.

*Note: these cookies are like little pillows of heaven, soft and cakey and essentially perfection. They will still be soft when you pull them out of the oven. Also, they do not spread so you can put them close together on the tray.

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October 25, 2010 · 2:00 am

The Return of Cheesy Pasta

Happy Monday, friends! Today’s post is a bit of a throwback but with a twist. Remember this? A Sunday dinner, to me, is always made up of some sort of pasta and carbonara sounded like just the kind of warm sleep-inducing dish I needed. And when The Boyfriend requested tortellini, I knew exactly what to make.

On the menu:
Tortellini carbonara
Adapted from Epicurious.com

1 lb. multi cheese tortellini
12 strips of bacon, coarsely chopped
1 1/2 cups mushrooms, sliced
2 medium sized yellow onions, chopped
4 garlic cloves, minced
1/2 teaspoon dried sage
4 egg yolks
1 cup heavy cream
1/2 cup parmesan cheese, grated

Cook tortellini in salted boiling water until cooked, according to package directions. Drain. Save 1 cup of pasta water.

Saute bacon in a LARGE skillet until crisp. Drain bacon on a paper towel and reserve 3 Tbsp of grease in the skillet. Add mushrooms, onions, and garlic to the skillet and cook until mushrooms are softened. Add 1/2 cup pasta liquid to the skillet and raise heat so the liquid boils. Whisk egg yolks and cream together in a small bowl. Add pasta, cream mixture, and 1/4 cup parmesan cheese to the skillet and mix together quickly so the pasta is completely coated. Keep constantly stirring the mixture and scraping the bottom of the skillet for ten minutes over medium-high heat until the egg is cooked. If the sauce is too thick, add a bit more reserved pasta water. Add bacon and mix in. Cook for another 3 minutes. Plate pasta immediately and sprinkle remaining parmesan cheese on top.

And in case the cup of cream, 12 slices of bacon, and 4 egg yolks didn’t tip you off, this is not a particularly healthy dinner. Maybe don’t make this one twice a week.

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October 20, 2010 · 2:00 am

Crusty

Is there anything better than pie? Well okay, maybe cake. Cake is better than pie. But in the fall, there is nothing better to ME than a beautiful concord grape pie. I’ll never forget the time my mother, the strict vegetarian, gave me a concord grape pie from a shop in Rochester and one of the main ingredients was lard. She was appalled. I was delighted. This particular recipe uses vegetable shortening as opposed to animal fat, but if I could bring myself to buy a tub of lard without literally feeling like a tub of lard, I’d use it.

Salted caramel apple pie from Four and Twenty Blackbirds in Brooklyn

On the menu:
Ruth’s Grandma’s Pie Crust
from Allrecipes.com

4 cups flour
1 3/4 cups shortening
3 Tbsp sugar
2 tsp salt
1 egg
1/2 cup water

In a large mixing bowl, combine flour, shortening, sugar, and salt. Blend together with a pastry cutter until crumbly. In a small bowl, mix egg with water. Blend into flour mixture. Chill in refrigerator until ready to use.

*Note: I realize this is just the recipe for crust and not for filling, but that’s because this is my standard, go to, fool proof crust recipe. It is deliciously flaky and not too sweet to use in literally any fruit pie you can come up with.

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