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In the last couple of years I seem to be making more recipes that call for lemon zest or orange zest and so a couple of years ago I bought a Zester and then went on to buy another microplane with slightly larger holes and blades and is best used for grating cheese and chocolate.  

I don’t have a kitchen filled with lots of gadgets and expensive knives, quite the contrary actually.  However, when I find a kitchen tool that makes putting together and cooking a meal easier, I’m all for it.  I love using my zester and using it when  you can zest a whole lemon over a bowl or pot is so easy.  BUT when I have to measure out a tablespoon or two and am zesting the lemon over a small plate, the zest ends up on the counter and elsewhere.  Then you have to scrape up the zest and scoop it into a measuring spoon.  

Well LOOKY HERE! Edgeware Better Zester is a creative new product that has taken zesting to a new level.  This handy tool has  little zester teeth that are coated with a food-safe nonstick coating, similar to the popular brightly-colored Kuhn Rikon knives. Also, it has a plastic attachment on the back that catches all the zest.  

Where this really shines, though, is in that zest catcher. It has measurement markings, so you can shake the zest into the bottom and see how much you’ve collected so far. Then, when you’re ready to get your zest, you can slide the zest catcher off and it sort of squeegees everything off the zester, leaving you with clean blades and all the zest neatly caught in the little attachment. Works perfectly, every time. 

Add A Little Zest To Your Life

Add A Little Zest To Your Life

This super kitchen aid  is available online through several stores and Amazon.  The average price is $14.95

There are literally a couple thousand gifts, gift ideas, and/or catalogs devoted to gifts for Foodies on your Christmas gift list.  So every night I surf the net looking for the next  new and better thing out there and feature it in my count-down to Christmas posts.

I just came across a very cute and practical item.  I often serve olives as an appetizer before dinner or as an hors d’ouevre with drinks.   Eating olives can be a messy event if you use your fingers and I dare say most of do.  TOOTHPICKS are the answer.  You can always put the olives in one dish, then put out a small little bowl for the pits and place a whiskey shot glass filled with toothpicks alongside the bowl.  My main problem with this set-up is real estate.  Never enough room to put much out on my coffee table.

HEDGEHOGS to the rescue!  This little guy will hold the toothpicks for you, perched on the rim of the bowl of your choice.

Don't Worry - No Quills

Don’t Worry – No Quills

KLpik Toothpick Holder available at MOMA gift shop – $25.00

MOMA is short for The Museum of Modern Art, Manhattan NY.  You can buy online!

 

DAy #13 – BRUNCH IN A BOX

If you can’t travel to New York City and visit the famous Lower East Side Appetizing Store known as Russ and Daughters, don’t despair.  First of all you might wonder what is an appetizing store and what’s so special about Russ and Daughters.  Not being a native New Yorker, when I first arrived here I wondered the same thing.  I thought to myself how strange to have a store that sold only appetizers, like what? Cheese and crackers, vegetables and dip, nuts, proscuitto and melon?

Well, this is how Wikipedia defines itAn appetizing store, typically in reference to Jewish cuisine, is best understood as a store that sells “the foods one eats with bagels.” “Appetizing” is used as a noun by itself to refer to these type of foods. …

Russ and Daughters will be celebrating their 100th anniversary in 2014.  Here’s a bit of information I took from their website;

The Beginning

The Beginning

You should visit the web site http://www.russanddaughters.com – the history timeline is fascinating.

Okay, now that you know what an appetizing store is and who Russ and Daughters are, it’s time for me to pull it all together with the title of this post.  You can give the Foodie on your list a real New York City Brunch.  It just so happens you can order a gift basket from Russ and Daughters.  A description of what you can send is below.

New York Brunch

Give a taste of New York with the city’s best bagels and lox. Any New Yorker (current or former) or food lover will go wild for this mouth-watering spread: New York’s finest Nova, all natural cream cheese, hand-rolled bagels, chocolate babka and our Private Blend coffee with a Russ & Daughters mug. Wrapped in a signature tote. Perfect for a gift or a gathering of up to 6 people.

A REAL NYC Brunch

A REAL NYC Brunch

This just might be the perfect gift for the Foodie on your list!

 

I almost always increase the number of garlic cloves any recipe calls for.  I’m Italian and many dishes I make are of that ethnicity and with garlic.  I’ve had a couple of garlic presses and hated trying to poke all of the residual garlic out of the holes.   Then I had one of those that switch the head back and forth and it pushes the last of the garlic out;  Unfortunately I broke two of those – not sure how or why.

When the rubber tube garlic peeler came out, I bought one of them and one for my daughter.  At first it seemed like the ideal way to peel garlic and I used it hundreds of times.  Lately I’ve been peeling cloves sans tools because, because I have no idea why lol.  

LOOK what I found!  A new garlic tool and it looks like a winner.  It is called Joseph Joseph Rocker Garlic Crusher. It looks like this:

It ROCKS!

It ROCKS!

By using downward pressure and a ‘rocking’ motion, this stylish tool breaks up garlic cloves quickly and easily, forcing the pieces up through the array of small holes in its base. The crushed pieces are then held in the curved design, allowing them to be spooned or scraped conveniently into a pan or bowl. Additional cloves can also be crushed at this stage before emptying. Continue rocking for a finer texture. Rocker™ is easy to clean under running water but is also dishwasher safe. 

It was designed by Goodwin Hartshorn and is available through Yellow Octopus for $12.95

 

I’m a chocoholic, I admit it, however, I am particular.  I mean there’s chocolate and there’s chocolate! I like dark chocolate, bitter and at least 75% cacao.  You can keep the milky soft sweet stuff and the calories that go with it.  

I also collect some chocolate-related items and probably should do  a post featuring my collection of chocolate candy molds and vintage chocolate bar labels.  I have several chocolate cookbooks and few odd chocolate nostalgia pieces.  But I don’t have this – it isn’t quite my style.

However, you might have just the Foodie on your list who also appreciates funky gifts and loves chocolate too.  If so, check this out:

"ADD" Me to Your List

“ADD” Me to Your List

This is a big calculator that looks and *drumroll* .. smells, like chocolate! And it is solar powered. A great stocking filler.

Really, doesn’t everyone love cheese?  Most people settle for your grocery store varieties of cheese;  Cheddar, Muenster,   Brie, Harvarti, Edam.  Hey guys, there’s a whole world of cheese out there and every Foodie knows it.  There are some great places to live if you love cheese.  Vermont is known for its tangy, sharp Cheddars, Wisconsin produces a lot of cheddars, some with infused wine, also Limbergers and Havarti.  

You could also be lucky enough to live in New York City, the home of Murray’s cheese.  Founded in 1940 by Murray Greenberg, Murray’s is proud to be a Greenwich Village-based business and part of the neighborhood’s rich food history.  Murray was a Jewish veteran of the Spanish Civil War who was rumored to be a Communist – but pay no mind, he was a smart capitalist who built a great reputation for the business. In the 70s, Murray sold the shop to his clerk Louis Tudda, an Italian immigrant from Calabria. In those days, it was a humble butter and eggs shop that had a lot of block cheeses and catered to the little Italian enclave that Bleecker Street was at the time.

Murray’s is your answer to what “cheese gift” to give to your Foodie recipient.  Your choices are myriad;  Of course you can buy cheese;  A few of the out-of-the-ordinary choices offered are: 

ELEGANT Chabichou , MILD Vermont Butter & Cheese Coupole, EARTHY Camembert, NUTTY Comte Saint Antoine, CREAMY Cave-Aged  Fourme d’Ambert, SAVORY Challerhocker, SNACKABLE Murray’s Cave Aged Pyrenees Brebis

Then there are gift baskets and boxes that Murray creates which include such other items as salamis, jams, olives, crostini, proscuitto and other delicacies.

Or your present could be a gift certificate to one of his terrific classes like Cheese 101, Mozzarella Making, The Harmony of Beer and Cheese and Sweet Indulgence/the pairing of cheese and chocolate.

Not quite exotic enough for your giftee? Ok, well then how about the gift of a tour of Murray’s Cheese Caves?  These caves are located under the very sidewalks of the New York. I n 2004, they  constructed cheese caves beneath Bleecker Street, and in 2013, they expanded their Cave Aged program to their production facility in Long Island City, which is now home to four more sizable caves and a drying room. Brian Ralph, the Cavemaster, works from both a scientific and a sensory point of view to ensure that you can tell what a difference a cave environment makes in terms of texture, aroma, and flavor!!!                                                                 

Murray's

               Oh give me some cheese please!

 

Foodies come in all shapes and sizes and they all love one or all of the glories of being a Foodie.  Some love to fine dine all the time, some like to bake, others love to create dishes and some just love to entertain.  

Hosting a fabulous dinner party or cocktail party is a great way to entertain.  Cocktails both the old-fashioned kind and the very nuevo concoctions are BIG right now.  There’s been a flurry of retro bars and saloons touting their single malt liquors  and the latest blackberry/sour apple flavored vodka martini with a cherry on top.

And now we have the layered cocktail also known as Rainbow cocktail,  a drink that is often composed of syrups, juices and liquors.  And Williams Sonoma has come up with the perfect tool so all of us at-home bartenders can whip up such libations as a Blue Lagoon, White Russian or Tequila Sunrise.  It is called the The Rainbow Cocktail, Layering Tool.

Here is a description of what it does and how to do it! 

Dazzle guests with layered cocktails that look brilliant and taste divine. It’s simple with the ingenious Rainbow Cocktail™ layering tool. Rest the funnel on top of the glass and follow the simple directions to pour syrups, juices and liquor. The funnel slows the pour while the float gently distributes each layer—the result is a vibrant cocktail or layered coffee drink that looks master-crafted.
Create professional-looking layered drinks.
Use with hot or chilled liquids.
Simply pour liquors in order from heaviest to lightest density—simple, illustrated directions make it easy.
Includes recipes for Irish Coffee, White Russian, Tequila Sunrise, Blue Lagoon and more.

Available at $19.95

Layered and Lovely

Layered and Lovely

 

It’s hard to imagine being a real Foodie,  lover of food and not owning several cookbooks.  That’s not to say that you need to actually make any of the recipes although that would be the expected thing to do, you can just leaf through the pages.  Sometimes I do that, it’s like window-shopping.  I think of it as grazing without actually eating, a behavior known to perpetual dieters who can visually satisfy themselves (I’m not really one of those).

Besides The Joy of Cooking (I’m not a fan), there literally thousands of cookbooks available in every Barnes & Noble and through Amazon.  That’s not to mention the great recipe sites such Allrecipes.com, MarthaStewart.com, the cooking magazines and the hundreds of niche blogs dedicated to cooking and eating.  I could easily recommend  a cookbook a day for the next 18 days but I’m not going to do that.

Today my Foodie gift of the day is a cookbook written by Mark Bittman of the New York Times.  It can be purchased at Amazon.com for $25.75.  The cookbook is 

How to Cook Everything (Completely Revised 10th Anniversary Edition) Hardcover

by Mark Bittman (Author)
How To Cook Everything

How To Cook Everything

Don’t be put off by the fact that the author is a New York Times staff writer.  Believe me, I’ve made several of his recipes that were featured in the Dining Section of the newspaper and we’re not talking gourmet ingredients and techniques.

Delicious!

Delicious!

No, it’s  not what you think – not Italian white Alba Truffles that cost $188 for an 8 ounces!  It’s not Beluga Caviar which costs $200-$300 per ounce, no, it’s something you can’t buy, you can’t return and you can only have it ONCE.  

It’s your time!  When you make make something or bake something for a someone and give it as a gift, they are receiving TWO gifts.  You have made a soup, baked a cake or whipped up a souffle, surely something  you know your friend will appreciate and enjoy;  But you had also given a gift of your time, your life, an hour or hours you can never get back.  A real Foodie knows what goes into creating culinary masterpieces, knows that the shopping for ingredients, the prepping, and the making all take time!

Today I’m suggesting you bake some DOUBLE CHOCOLATE BREAD;  The recipe makes one loaf and takes about 1 1/2 hours.  

INGREDIENTS
1½ cups all-purpose flour

¼ cup cocoa powder

1 teaspoon baking soda

Pinch of salt

8 tablespoons (1 stick) unsalted butter, melted and cooled slightly

3 eggs

½ cup sour cream

1 teaspoon vanilla

1 cup dark-chocolate chips

Confectioners’ sugar, as garnish
DIRECTIONS
1. Preheat the oven to 350°. Grease a loaf pan with nonstick cooking spray.
2. Sift the flour, cocoa powder, baking soda and salt into a large bowl. Add the butter, eggs, sour cream and vanilla, then mix with a whisk until well combined.

3. Gently fold in the chocolate chips until they are evenly distributed.

4. Pour the batter into the prepared loaf pan. It should fill the pan a little more than halfway.

5. Bake until a toothpick inserted into the center comes out clean, 50 minutes to 1 hour.

6. Let the bread cool for 15 minutes in the pan, then remove it from the pan while it is still warm by inverting it onto a cooling rack. Cool completely before slicing and serving. If desired, finish the loaf with a dusting of confectioners’ sugar.

 Wrap in cellophane or Saran Wrap and tie a ribbon around it.  Or you can present it à la Martha Stewart and wrap it up in brown craft paper and tie with the classic red and white bakery twine.

If you’ve been following this blog for a while you know that last January I wrote about my very own Personal Banker. https://pbenjay.wordpress.com/wp-admin/post.php?post=10832&action.  His name is Damon Miller and he is the Branch Manager of Arvest Bank in Mena, Arkansas.  Today I called Damon and before I could state the reason for my call, I was greeted with “Good morning Miss Lori, how are you today?”  Always cheerful, always pleasant, that’s Damon.  

Yesterday I received an email from the bank informing me and their other customers that due to inclement  weather some of the branches might be closing early and may or may not be open today.  So I asked him about it, what was going on down there?  “Sleet and ice” he said. Most of Mena was without power due to the lines freezing and/or trees falling on them.  The bank had a back-up generator.   Oh wow I’ve been in Arkansas when they had snow and it’s rough.  The state doesn’t really have snow plows, sanders or the like to deal with snow since it REALLY is rare there.  The roads become quickly un-passable and you see vehicles skidding off to the shoulders because they don’t have snow tires or chains either!

Shortly after our phone conversation, I received the two photos below so you can see for yourself what Arkansas encased in ice looks like.

Ice-laden trees bend over under the weight of ice.

Ice-laden trees bend over under the weight of ice.

Crystalized Flowers

Crystalized Flowers