Giveaway: Win a $60 Gift Certificate from CSN Stores!

June is my favorite month.  The weather is beautiful, the farmer's markets (along with my mom's vegetable garden) are bountiful, and my birthday happens at the end of it (yes, to my husband's chagrin, I like celebrating my birthday for the whole month).  For us, we'll be celebrating through food/drink adventures while we travel for weddings, business, and catching up with friends and family (You'll see where, including the city pictured above, throughout the next few posts).  But for you, we have a great giveaway!  From a bathroom vanity to a DVF travel tote to even Le Creuset cookware, CSN Stores features these and many other items in its over 200 online stores.  We're giving one of our lucky readers a $60 gift certificate to use in any one of CSN Stores online sites.


You have a maximum of 5 chances to enter. To enter, leave a comment for one or all of the following, by June 27th, 11:59PM EST:
1. Name your favorite High/Low Food/Drink post or your favorite item from our HLFD store
2. Follow this blog on Google Friend Connect
3. Follow us on Twitter and tweet about this giveaway
4. Subscribe via email or RSS to this site
5. Link this giveaway on your website (send us your link!)

We will choose the winner with Random.org and announce who wins the $60 gift certificate by June 28th.  Please note that this contest is only open to residents of Canada and the U.S.

USDA ERS Report on Women Farmers

While women have always been recognized as critically important to our food system, their leadership role in agricultural production is a more recent phenomenon.  Last month, the USDA ERS released a new report, Characteristics of Women Farm Operators and Their Farms by Robert Hoppe and Penni Korb.

According to this report, "[t]he share of U.S. farms operated by women nearly tripled over the past three decades."  The report uses census data to provide information about these women farmers and the types of farms they operate.  Although it only reflects data up to the last farm census in 2007, it provides a fascinating look at the increasing significant role that women are playing in operating their own farms.

It was almost twenty years ago when I wrote Who Owns the Family Farm: The Struggle to Determine the Property Rights of Farm Wives, 14 N. ILL. U. L. REV. 689 (1994) and the companion short piece, The Property Rights of Farm Wives,  AGRIC. L. UPDATE, Nov. 1994 at 4.  In those articles, I focused on some of the problems that farm wives had in receiving recognition of their property rights in non-titled family farm property. I was stunned to find instances where the personal property assets of the "family" farm were thought to belong to the "farmer," who always seemed to be the husband.  What about the wife's interests?  Some of the cases were particularly frustrating in that the wife contributed so much to the operation.  Ironically, the most well thought out opinions were in the farm bankruptcy context when the judges were either sympathetic to the wife's plight or just wise in understanding what a family farm really means.  In bankruptcy wives were routinely found to be "farmers" for purposes of claiming farm machinery as assets that could be exempted as their "tools of the trade."

That seems a world apart from the wave of women that are running their own farms and marketing their own crops and livestock. While included in these statistics are the widows who now are responsible for the farm operation that they built with their husbands, many of the women farmers profiled are a new breed of women entrepreneurs. I know that they still face discrimination, but they  promise to make a significant impact on our food system. That's exciting.

Delicious Ice Cream Sandwich in the Most Unlikely Place

Who would have thought that a beer store would produce one of the best ice cream sandwiches we have ever eaten? We wandered into Bierkraft to see what beers were available on draft (to fill our growler).

Instead, we ended up debating over Bierkraft's own delicious ice cream sandwiches: brownie with vanilla chocolate crunch gelato filling, pecan blondie with dolce de leche gelato, brownie with peanut butter gelato, cherry blondie with dark chocolate gelato.

All of the sandwiches are made with il laboratorio del gelato and the brownies and blondies are made with organic and gourmet ingredients (including beer!). We chose the cherry blondie with dark chocolate gelato, which was very large (and only $4.95). It wasn't overly sweet, had great texture, and the gelato was wonderful. It's a great treat to share on a summer's day.

Bierkraft is located at 191 Fifth Avenue in Park Slope, Brooklyn.

Guano is back

Peru Guards Its Guano as Demand Soars Again, New York Times (May 30, 2008):

[G]uano, the bird dung that was the focus of an imperialist scramble on the high seas in the 19th century, is in strong demand once again.

Surging prices for synthetic fertilizers and organic foods are shifting attention to guano, an organic fertilizer once found in abundance on this island and more than 20 others off the coast of Peru, where an exceptionally dry climate preserves the droppings of seabirds like the guanay cormorant and the Peruvian booby.

On the same islands where thousands of convicts, army deserters and Chinese indentured servants died collecting guano a century and a half ago, teams of Quechua-speaking laborers from the highlands now scrape the dung off the hard soil and place it on barges destined for the mainland.

Alamos Malbec Seleccion

We recently had a couple of bottles of the 2007 Alamos Malbec Seleccion (Bodega Catena, Mendoza region of Argentina). This wine is one of our favourite everyday reds.

The regular Alamos Malbec is usually $15-$16 per bottle in NYC. We were excited to see the Seleccion version at Zachys (in Scarsdale, NY), so we bought a case. (We also ended up getting a great deal, paying about $12.50/bottle).

The Seleccion is ripe and fruit forward with a lot of dark, almost plummy fruit on open (not jammy though) and is deep purple in color. After some air, the upfront fruit fades a bit, with a little grapiness as the wine warms. A round, medium-body mouthfeel with some decent astringency on the finish to go with your steak or BBQ... definitely not bad for a bigger, value-oriented Argentinian Malbec. Cheers!

Blueberry Smoothie Popsicles

Smoothies are one of my favorite breakfast dishes.  They're easy to make, we always have the ingredients on hand, and they're both tasty and healthy.  So with the hot weather here in NYC, I decided to turn my smoothies into popsicles!

Blueberry Smoothie Popsicles (makes 5 large popsicles)

Ingredients:

1 cup blueberries (we used frozen blueberries)

1/2 cup vanilla soy milk

1/2 cup non-fat vanilla yogurt

Directions:

1. Using a hand blender, blend all three ingredients together.

2. Fill popsicle molds.

3. Freeze overnight.

4. Serve and enjoy!

You can adjust the recipe to suit your tastes - add 1/4 cup more yogurt to make it creamier,  use different fruit combinations, or macerate the fruit to make it sweeter. (To macerate 1 cup of blueberries, put the berries in a pyrex or stainless steel bowl, sprinkle with 1 Tbsp of sugar, and let sit for 30 minutes before mixing it with the rest of the ingredients).

We're submitting this smoothie idea as part of Natasha's (5 Star Makeover) Smoothies and Shakes makeover.

Best Black and White Cookies in NYC

Every New Yorker has his or her favourite place for Black and White cookies. Actually, they're not really cookies. They're more like flattened shortbread-like spongey cake with chocolate and vanilla icing on top. The cookies were made even more famous by the Seinfeld episode, "The Dinner Party" where Jerry proclaims,"Look to the cookie" as the answer to race relations.

We headed over to William Greenberg, a mainstay since 1946 on the Upper East Side. The wonderful smell of homemade goods hit us when we enter. Even though the store is filled with pastries, cupcakes, and tarts, we head straight for the black and white cookie.

The Black and White cookie ($3.50, smaller ones are $2 each) is amazing! The cookie was fresh and the frosting was sinfully decadent.

Why is this the perfect black and white cookie? In addition to the creamy frosting, the cookie part is thick, rich, and moist (versus non-traditional drier/biscotti-type versions).

William Greenberg is located at 1100 Madison Ave. (btwn E83rd and E84th Sts.)

Happy Memorial Weekend!

Yay! The long weekend is here, which means Shake Shack has something special to offer!  For Memorial Day weekend, the corn dog ($4.50) is back on the menu at the UWS location.  We had it last Labor Day weekend and that deep-fried Vienna hot dog with sweet Rick's Picks corn relish was mighty tasty.

And if you stop by the Madison Square Park location, they're offering a new shake:  The S. S. Unsinkable "Extra Thick" Fleet Week Shake ($5.50).  It's a vanilla frozen custard with lychee, mandarin orange, and coconut.  This special shake is FREE to all service men and women in uniform.  Fleet Week in NYC just got extra sweet!

 Shake Shack UWS is located at 366 Columbus Ave (at 77th St) and
Shake Shack MSP is located at the southeast corner of MSP near Madison Ave and East 23rd St.

B.O.R.I.S. The Crusher from Hoppin' Frog Brewery

We were surprised when we stopped by a local pub to find B.O.R.IS The Crusher Oatmeal Imperial Stout from Hoppin' Frog Brewery. We've had the 22oz bottles of this before but we've never had it on tap. The first time we had this, we made the mistake of drinking the whole big bottle in one sitting as it is 9.4% ABV. It does pack a wallop.

The beer looks just like it tastes. It is thick, bold, and rich. We tasted dark, smoky fruit and roasted coffee. After we let it sit and warm up a bit, the sweetness diminished a bit. This allowed some of the roasted malt and coffee aromas to take over. And the finish is not overly bitter but is long lasting. If you drink this too fast, well look out...it will crush you (and us) every time. Too bad we couldn't fill our own growler to take some beer to go. We would've loved to bring it home to pair with chocolate - it makes a great, after-dinner drink!

B.O.R.I.S (Bodacious Oatmeal Russian Imperial Stout) is from Hoppin' Frog Brewery located in Akron, OH.

Wine and Gourmet Food Class at De Gustibus Cooking School in Macy's

Macy's in Herald's Square is known for many things: the Thanksgiving Day parade, hoards of shoppers, and Santa's workplace in A Miracle on 34th Street. But did you know that it also houses a cooking school?  Just beyond the swimsuits and coats on the 8th floor sits the De Gustibus Cooking School.

We recently won 2 tickets to a wine class by correctly answering a question via Twitter (they often have contest so follow them @degustibusnyc for your chance to win).  All we knew was that we would be treated to a few wine pairings of St. Francis Winery & Vineyards wines with food from igourmet.com.  We ended up thoroughly enjoying (and completely stuffed from) our tastings of 10 wines, multiple cheeses, cured meats, and pates.

Walking into the classroom, we are immediately hit with the history of the cooking school.  De Gustibus has been around for 30 years and on its wall are chefs who had taught in that kitchen, including Wolfgang Puck and Daniel Boulud (look how young they look!)

Before beginning our tasting, we found out that everyone received a free subscription to Food and Wine or Travel + Leisure.  We also received a few coupons/discount codes from a number of vendors including Macy's, igourmet, and Miele.

The presenters were Spencer Chesman (left, CEO of igourmet.com) and Christopher Silva (right, CEO/President of St. Francis Winery & Vineyards).  Christopher gave us an easy acronym on how to taste wine:  ANTF for Appearance, Nose, Taste, and Finish.

The series comprised of St. Francis' more accessible and more widely distributed wines.  The first pairing started off with a clean, crisp (and affordable) 2008 Sonoma County Chardonnay.  We really enjoyed the 2006 Sonoma County Merlot (wine #2) and 2007 Old Vines Zinfandel (wine #5).  It's great to taste reds that are not too fruity yet still have some structure to them, especially at these price points (approx $17-$22).  The other wines were the juicy 2006 Sonoma County Cabernet Sauvignon (wine #3) and the party-friendly 2006 RED (wine #4), a blend of several grapes.

Cheese plates are deceptive - though it doesn't look like a lot of food, we both quickly filled up!  Our Chardonnay was paired with a non-pasteurized Gruyere de Comte from France.  It was nutty with a mild sharpness. Our Merlot was paired with both a cheese and a meat.  The cheese was a delicious sheep's milk cheese from Holland called the Lamb Chopper.  Unlike other sheeps' milk cheeses, this one was sweet and creamy.  The meat was the Rosette de Lyon which was a French salami with large pieces of spicy black peppercorn. 

 We also had two items paired with our Cabernet Sauvignon - the Asiago d'Allevo Oro del Tempo and the Mousse Poivre Noir.  The firm Italian cheese was savory and would've tasted nice shredded on a bowl of pasta.  We liked how the nice spice from the black pepper made the mousse pair well with the Cabernet.

The Pleasant Ridge Reserve and D'Artagnan Smoked Magret Duck Breast were paired with the RED wine.  The duck was tasty while the American cheese (WI) was from a grass-fed single farm herd whose accessible mild flavors makes it easy to pair.  Lastly, the Zinfandel was paired with the blue cheese, Smokey Blue by Rogue Creamery.

After a short break, we started up again with a second round of wine tastings.  These wines included the Wild Oak series, a higher-end (but still affordable) line from St. Francis.  Once again, we started with a white, their Wild Oak Chardonnay, which is more round and full than the Sonoma County bottling and was quite delicious.  As with the first group, we really enjoyed the Merlot (wine #2, 2005 Wild Oak Merlot) in addition to the old-school 2006 Pagani Zinfandel (wine #4).  The Sonoma wines are a little more restrained (in a good way), and not the typical full-throttle, fruity wines most people associate with California reds.  The other wines we had were the richer yet balanced 2005 Wild Oak Cabernet Sauvignon (wine #3) and the dark 2006 Wild Oak Old Vines Zinfandel (wine #5) that was a fantastic match for the truffled cheese below.

And with more wine comes more charcuterie from igourmet.com!  We loved our chardonnay with the Abbaye de Belloc, a Finnish sheep's raw milk cheese.  The Beemster Classic 18 month Gouda  and Pheasant Pate with Herbs were both paired with the Merlot.  With its granular texture, this gouda tasted so much better than other goudas we've enjoyed (and when you buy a wedge, its label peels off for easy signage!).  The meaty and rustic pate was also from D'Artagnan and had a subtle fennel flavor.  The Cabernet Sauvignon was paired with a Fiscalini 18 month Bandage Wrapped Cheddar

 The Pagani Vineyard Zinfandel was paired with the salty Mahon Reserva and Lomo Curado (cured pork loin).  And if you like truffles, you'd love the Boschetto al Tartufo Bianchetto cheese.  Along with the Alpen Schinken (German cured ham), the Tuscan cheese was paired with the last Zinfandel. 

The class had a nice mix of people:  tourists, industry folks, media, and locals.  The guy seated next to me was a server at ABC Kitchen (so of course, I asked him for tips on when to check out Jean-Georges Vongerichten's new restaurant!)

This was a fun Saturday afternoon date for the two of us.  Owner Salvatore Rizzo made sure to ask the questions participants were probably thinking but were too shy to ask.  With a lot of classes held by celebrated chefs and industry experts (about $95/person), it's like going out for a really nice meal but with a knowledgeable and engaging host to guide you through the experience.

De Gustibus Cooking School is located on the 8th floor of Macy's (Broadway and 34th St) in NYC.

Bill Marler Addresses the WSU - Pollan Controversy

Here is an update to the previous blog post about Washington State University's decision to pull the Michael Pollan book, Omnivore's Dilemma from its mandatory freshman read.

It turns out that noted food safety lawyer Bill Marler is an alumnus of WSU. Anxious to provide his "Cougars" with a chance to do right by this issue, Mr. Marler publicly offered to pay to bring Michael Pollan to speak at the university. The Chronicle of Higher Education reported that WSU accepted his generous offer. Looks like the students will have lots to talk about, with food and agriculture at the forefront of the discussion.

Rattle n Hum - Beer tastings anyone?

We love trying new craft beers, so we were eager to check out Rattle n Hum. It's a relatively new bar in midtown that features craft beers from over 40 taps and 4 casks. Rattle n Hum also offers growlers to take the beer home with you.

This is a beer lover's dream. The selection is ever-changing and the menus feature ratings by Beer Advocate. Some of their recent selections on tap and in cask have included brews from Stone, Allagash, Sixpoint and Bear Republic along with a great selection of big bottles.

Pretty crowded for a Tuesday night!

Big, spicy, and meaty wings...At only 25 cents a pop, they make for some great cheap eats.

And, or course, we indulge in the beer tastings of craft beers on tap (draft and cask). A tasting of 4 beers start at $7.

Rattle n Hum is located on 14 E 33rd St (btwn 5th Ave and Madison Ave)

govino - Elegant wineglasses anywhere you go!

We love outdoor get-togethers and sharing great wines with
friends and family wherever we go. But we always face the dilemma of either serving a fine bottle in cheap plastic cups or sacrificing Waterford glasses for the greater good.

Govino glasses are a perfect solution to our entertaining needs. We tried them out this weekend after reading about them in a wine magazine. At only $2.99 each (or a 4-pack at $11.95), they are an inexpensive way to showcase our favourite wines without worrying about broken glass.

The glasses feature a dent on the side for your thumb so you can easily carry them. They are also lightweight, yet durable.

Originally designed for wine professionals, these glasses are made of a special plastic that acts like crystal...that is, you can properly see your wine's colour and smell its bouquet. We loved its design as it was perfect for swirling, sniffing, and most importantly, drinking wine.

And the glasses are shatterproof too (as seen by how bendy the glass is in the photo above). One of the guests even dropped the glass, only to have it bounce back in his hand.

These beautiful glasses are reusable (they should be hand-washed) and recyclable.

For more information, including where to purchase these wineglasses, go to: http://govinowine.com

Crif Dogs: Hot Dog Hedonism

New Yorkers are proud of their hot dogs. From dirty-water dogs outside Yankee Stadium to Gray's Papaya, there are a myriad of choices found in the city.

Another well-known mecca of hot dogs is Crif Dogs, found on the Lower East Side. Locals and tourists alike trek down here for what many consider are the best hot dogs in New York.

The extensive menu is packed with various options to dress your Crif Dog. The Crif Dog itself is a handmade, naturally smoked dog. You can customize your dog by choosing from a variety of toppings, or you can just leave it to the experts and order from the menu. There are also Crif Burgers available...but we came here for the dogs!

Spicy Redneck ($4.75): Crif Dog's #1 best-seller. This is a bacon-wrapped Crif Dog with chili, cole slaw, and jalapenos. It was incredibly filling, but delicious. It was spicy (from the peppers) but cool and refreshing (from the cole slaw). The slaw added crunch, while the chili made it hearty. We loved how all the flavours and textures mixed together. A meal in itself, this was our favourite.

Chili Dog ($3.75): This well done Crif Dog (deep fried!) was topped with mustard, onions, and their special chili sauce. It was tasty and indulgent.

Chihuahua ($4.50): This bacon-wrap Crif Dog was covered with sour cream and avocadoes. It was lighter than the other two and the avocados were nice and fresh.

"Secret" entrance to PDT (Please Don't Tell). Phone reservations are needed ahead of time to enter this speakeasy. You can also order Crif Dogs here, in a more sophisticated, sexier lounge.

We like the "hole in the wall" feel of Crif Dogs. The hot-dogs just seem to taste even better when you can indulge in a game of vintage Ms. Pac-Man.

Crif Dogs is located at 113 Saint Marks Place (btwn 1st Ave and Ave A).

Blogger Brunch at Northern Spy Food Co. (and a quick dessert at Momofuku Milk Bar)

Having started this food blog over a year ago, we have both met some wonderful, interesting people.  One of my first blogger friends was Mardi, who I had the good fortune to meet in person when we were both in San Francisco.  She's based in Toronto (my hometown) and came down this past weekend to NYC with her husband.  So, along with a few other bloggers (Lauren, Mary Ann, and eventually Christine), we headed down to the East Village to celebrate her 40th birthday visit at Northern Spy Food Co (a quaint country-style farm-to-table spot).

I love getting together with other bloggers because I'm not the only one taking photos!  Here's Mardi taking a photo of her blood orange mimosa ($8).  

A couple of the guys (including my hubby) opted for the Beer Float ($8) while I chose the refreshing Blood Orange Seltzer ($3). The beer float was made with Keegan Ale's Mother's Milk and a vanilla semifreddo.  Suffice it to say, my husband drank the whole glass but still preferred my Guinness float.

The warm, buttery Homemade Biscuits ($3) melted in our mouths.  It came with jam, but we liked it on its own.

The Griddled cornbread ($6) was also good on its own (even Mardi's husband Neil, who doesn't like cornbread, took a bite after everyone's positive reactions).  I liked the sweet onion yogurt as it added a nice flavor.

My favorite dish was the Kale Salad ($11) with clothbound cheddar cheese, kohlrabi (German turnip), and almond.  It had so many different textures with the crunchy almonds and softer turnips.  We both love the heartiness of kale - it's a favorite ingredient for Meatless Mondays.  We found the recipe online and will be definitely be making this dish soon!

Chicken and Egg Sandwich ($12) with crispy chicken thigh with skin and chimichurri.  The sandwich was tasty and filling, but unfortunately our poached egg was overcooked (the yolk was completely hard-boiled, probably due to our dish being ready before the rest of our large group) and would have been better with a runny yolk.    

All of the guys opted for the Corned Beef Hash ($14).  Though the menu indicated that this dish had heritage beef brisket, everyone was surprised to get chunks of meat instead.  My husband liked it as he found the cubes retained more flavor than some chopped up briskets he's had before.  The confit potatoes tasted quite good with the piri piri sauce instead of ketchup.  His eggs were less cooked than mine, but the yolks were not runny.

Mardi chose the Slow-whisked Scrambled eggs ($13) with housemade sausage and potato flatbread.  She liked her meal, but given a substantial amount of eggs, could not finish her dish.

Lauren and Mary Ann both enjoyed their Polenta and Eggs ($14), which also included braised mustard greens.  Lauren enjoyed the way her polenta was prepared and Mary Ann was so stuffed from this dish for the rest of the day.

The food was pretty good, but the company was even better!  And my patient hubby had the other guys around to commiserate with as we ladies all took photos.

Most of us then headed out to Momofuku Milk Bar, bought cookies (and kimchi butter), tried the soft serve, ogled the pork belly, and chatted some more.

A final photo of the bloggers:  Christine, Lauren, Mardi, and myself (unfortunately Mary Ann had to head out to another appointment).

 Northern Spy Food Co. is located at 511 East 12th St (btwn Ave A and B) in NYC.