Food

Seaweed and Lobsters

/ Tara Taft / Leave a comment

Have you ever been to a New England clambake? Not just a lobster boil or a barbeque, but a real clambake where lobsters and clams are steamed by seaweed sitting on very hot rocks. In case you haven’t been lucky enough to have the experience, here’s how it works:

First you dig a big pit.

Next you add some large rocks, about the size of a basketball, along the bottom of the pit.  Then place wood on top of the rocks and  start a fire. The idea is to heat up the rocks so they are very, very hot.  This means the fire has to burn for several hours.

Meanwhile, soak the wooden baskets which will contain the lobsters so they won’t burn.

When the stones are good and hot, it’s time to start the cooking. Cover the entire pit with seaweed.

Add the live lobsters and steamers to the water soaked baskets and set them in the pit on top of the seaweed. Add potatoes or corn on the cob (in their husks) if desired, though in our experience, corn often takes on the flavor of the seaweed.

Cover the seaweed with one or two tarps to keep in the steam. And start counting.

According to our experts, it takes 47 minutes and 30 seconds to steam the lobsters.

Carefully, remove the tarps and uncover the baskets. The seafood is now ready to eat.

Be sure to serve the lobsters and steamers with melted butter, lemon, crackers and picks. Additional food items often include: potatoes, corn on the cob, clam chowder, corn bread, cole slaw or green salad. Serve with the beverage of your choice. For dessert, we like to follow our lobster with s’mores over a separate campfire (not over the pit!).

Enjoy!

Visiting the Cape Cod Potato Chip Factory

/ Tara Taft / 1 Comment

Accompanied by a few 14-year old girls, I arrived at the Cape Cod Potato Chip Factory at 3 p.m. on a Friday afternoon in June and followed the signs.

Once inside, we said hi to the women at the reception desk and walked down a narrow hallway, reading the signs and peering through windows.

We saw potatoes falling through a chute and on conveyer belts. We watched as workers grabbed random samples of potatoes potato chips and more potato chips, but we weren’t allowed to take any photos. We learned that it takes a lot of potatoes (4 pounds) to make only 1 pound of potato chips, and we observed the chips being weighed and packaged.

At the gift shop, we were given free samples (sea salt and vinegar and sweet mesquite barbeque) and bought two bags for lunch the next day (feta and rosemary and 40% less fat).

Located at 100 Breed’s Hill Road in Hyannis, Mass., the factory is open for free self-guided tours Monday through Friday, 9 a.m. – 5 p.m.

Trip taken June 2012.

Searching for the Best Chocolate Chip Cookie in NYC

/ Tara Taft / Leave a comment

After finding the best pickle in New York City, my friend was now after the best chocolate chip cookie. According to her Californian rabbi, the best chocolate chip in the world could be found on Manhattan on the Upper West Side.

One morning in June, we met at Levain Bakery on West 74th Street to try a cookie.

What we discovered: the cookies are large, easily two servings worth, which helps justify the cost of $4 per cookie. Full of chocolate, the cookies contain walnuts as well (watch out all of you with tree nut allergies). Gooey on the inside and firm on the outside, the cookies are not crisp and their flavor exudes butter.

The bakery sells more than just chocolate chip cookies. Besides other cookies, the bakery sells bread, sticky buns, and other sweet items.

Since we didn’t try any other chocolate chip cookies in New York, I can’t confirm whether Levain Bakery makes the best chocolate chip cookie in the city, the country or the world. But I agree with the rabbi, its cookie is definitely in the running.

Trip taken June 2012.

In Search of the Best Pickle

/ Tara Taft / Leave a comment

We were on a search for the best pickle on Manhattan. Before my friend embarked on a trip to the East Coast in June, she did a little research. She googled and searched, arriving in town with a name and address. Her family and I followed as she walked briskly from South Street Seaport through Chinatown and Little Italy, passing glistening gelato and mouth watering cannolis.

Turning a corner on the Lower East Side, we found the best pickle at The Pickle Guys on Essex Street.

Stepping down a few steps, we entered a room full of pickles: vats of pickled tomatoes, olives, and carrots, mushrooms,  green beans and peppers.

And there were cucumbers: sour and hot, half sour and three quarter sour. I bought the full sour pickle and took a bite. Tart and crisp with just the right bite, it lived up to its reputation.

Whether or not The Pickle Guys actually sell the best pickle in New York, I never found out, but for pickle connoisseurs everywhere, it’s definitely worth a visit.

Trip taken June 2012

Oink for Ice Cream

/ Tara Taft / Leave a comment

“Oink,” five 13-year olds said in unison, in eager anticipation. Over the counter, the bright eyed young woman’s face lit up. She clanged the bell and told her boss, “It’s an oink!”

Fingers pointed as mouths salivated, voices escalating with excitement and anticipation. Eyes watched the bowl of ice cream grow bigger with each request. Scoops of peppermint stick and coffee, bubblegum and mint, chocolate and vanilla, butter pecan and coconut, chocolate chip and peanut butter, strawberry and blackberry were drowned with hot fudge and butterscotch, sprinkled with candy, and squirted with whipped cream.

Five 13-year olds with five spoons perched around the small ice cream parlor sized table, hovering and tasting, slurping and swallowing, each determined to taste her favorite flavor. They laughed and giggled, jostled and cried out, as spoons reached across the table, and ice cream spilled and oozed melting stickiness and sweetness.

In minutes, it was gone. The bowl, the mess. The napkins and spoons thrown away. Only a few flavors lingering on messy lips; the experience eagerly anticipated now only a sweet memory and a hope for the next visit to the Vineyard. You can get an oink at Mad Martha’s Island Cafe, located on Martha’s Vineyard in Oak Bluffs, Edgartown, and Vineyard Haven.

Trip taken 2011.

Blooming Tea

/ Tara Taft / Leave a comment

Drinking a cup of art tea at the Slanted Door in San Francisco is a dynamic experience where art is created before your eyes.  I love to watch the ugly dried up brown blob in my clear wine glass evolve. I love to watch as the hot water slowly unfurls the flower’s petals, changing it into a beautiful, aromatic, delicate red flower.

What is art tea? Also called “blooming tea,” art tea refers to a dried flower surrounded by tea leaves whose petals unfurl as the tea steeps and the leaves infuse the water with fragrance and flavor.

Where before I was leery, I now have no hesitation and eagerly sip the jasmine flavored green tea surrounding the beautiful lychee flower.

Trip taken May 2009.

San Francisco’s Gourmet Faneuil Hall

/ Tara Taft / 1 Comment

Every trip I take to San Francisco, I always end up at the Ferry Building. I love to meander among the open shops, browsing the unique objects for sale, the ceramic sushi dishes, the redwood burl bowls, the handmade felt animals, silk scarves, and fragrant soaps. I like to taste the chocolate, to sip the drip coffee, to sample the olive oil, and the honey. I like to browse the books, check out the many mushrooms for sale, and drool over the cheeses.

There are so many good places to eat and to sample. I’ve eaten green papaya salad at the Slanted Door, fish tacos at Mijita, and had a mint chip shake at Gott’s Roadside.  I’ve bought fruit and veggies at the Farmers’ Market and sat outside on a bench in the sun, watching the boats and the people go by.

And for you gluten-free eaters, Mariposa Baking Company sells gluten-free breads, quiches, bagels, cookies, and other goodies right in the building. For more gluten-free ideas on where to eat in the Ferry Building, check out these blogs: www.gfreefoodie.com  and www.gfinsf.com.

Just a ferry ride from Marin, a Muni ride from Fisherman’s Wharf, a walk from California Street’s cable car stop, or an easy drive in the city with metered parking across the street, the Ferry Building is located on the water near the Embarcadero. I remember when the building was empty, just a cavern to walk through on my way to work in San Francisco. Now it’s a destination, whether for lunch or dinner, to buy a gift, or just to browse. Every time I go to the city by the bay, I make a point to stop, and I’m never sorry I did.

Photos on this post by Erica Taft on trip taken in May 2009.

California Mexican

/ Tara Taft / 4 Comments

When a friend asked me what my favorite food was, I didn’t hesitate. “Salsa!” I replied. I like chips, too, but mainly as a conduit to salsa fresca: tomatoes, onion, a pepper, cilantro, and lime juice. I love the chunky and the tart, with just the right heat. I like my salsa on the medium to mild side, too much heat and my taste buds are overwhelmed; too little heat and the salsa remains only a sidebar. Just the right amount, and I want to add it to everything, the burritos, the tacos, the enchilada.

I like the fresh, California-style Mexican, and I love fish tacos. In college, I traveled to Ensenada with a couple of friends where we ate fish tacos for a quarter from street vendors. Fried fish, salsa fresca, sliced cabbage, mayo and a little lime juice all within a corn tortilla. The best.

Now an East Coast transplant, I’m always searching for the perfect Mexican place. I’ve eaten at several in New England over the years, but no matter how hard I try, my favorite Mexican restaurants remain in California, and two of them are located in the Bay Area: Guaymas and Joe’s Taco Lounge.

Guaymas is the fancier of the two. Located on Main Street in Tiburon, Guaymas is perched on the Bay. You can sit outside among the seagulls and the sail boats or inside where papel picado banners (those brightly colored paper cutouts) decorate the room. I ate lunch at Guaymas after the Loma Prieta Earthquake – feeling safe and lucky in barely touched Tiburon, looking across the Bay at crumpled and warped San Francisco. At Guaymas, they serve a variety of salsas. Try the Ceviche de Pescado, the Poblano en Nogado, or the Tamales Platano.

Not far from Guaymas, you can find Joe’s Taco Lounge in the small town of Mill Valley (identified as one of the best small towns in Smithonian Magazine’s recent article). Small, noisy, and colorful, you have to get there early for a table or be prepared to wait. Here the only view is of colorful hot sauces lining the wall and the bar in the center of this tiny restaurant. I’ve heard the burritos are amazing, but I can’t get beyond the fish tacos, and I always ask for more salsa.

Photos on this post by Erica on trip taken in May 2009.

Exploring Amherst

/ Tara Taft / 2 Comments

We explored Amherst the other day, my kids and I. It was school vacation, and equipped with directions, a map, and gluten-free food recommendations from the internet, we set off, arriving in the town of Amherst around 11 a.m.

With its white outlined brick buildings, tree lined streets, abundance of colleges (there are five nearby), eateries, and bookstores, it’s easy to see why the town of Amherst has been voted one of the best college towns in  the U.S. more than once.

After parking in front of Amherst College’s gym, we checked in at the Robsham Memorial Center for Visitors before wandering around the private school’s 1000-acre campus. Few of the college’s 1800 students were around (where were they? At lunch? In class?), and my voice echoed outside between the buildings. The grass was green, the grounds immaculate, the buildings stately, the school quiet.

A mile up the road we found the lunch place I’d read about, The Loose Goose. We each chose a different sandwich (from hummus and avocado to turkey and bacon) on a different type of bread (French baguette, ciabatta roll, and even gluten-free sandwich bread) before exploring a few of the shops down the street.

After an ice cream at Bart’s, it was time for our 2:30 tour of UMass.

The University of Massachusetts 1,450-acre campus was bustling, and people were everywhere. Only a short distance from Amherst College and only one and a half times its acreage, UMass’s total student population is over 27,500. We joined a tour of 50 other parents and teens and explored the campus with its variety of architecture, from quaint New England brick buildings to the new 26-story library.

We learned that students at any of the five area colleges, Smith College, Mt. Holyoke College, and Hampshire College, in addition to UMass and Amherst College, can take classes at any of the other schools. Even men can take classes at the all-women schools of Mt. Holyoke and Smith.

We didn’t make it to nearby Northhampton or to any of the other campuses, but instead headed home, our first impression of Amherst, and especially UMass, a good one.

Trip Taken April 2012

Where Are We Going?

/ Tara Taft / 2 Comments

It was a mystery. My husband planned a weekend away for the two of us, without the kids, to celebrate our 20th wedding anniversary, but he wouldn’t tell me where we were going. “It’s a surprise,” he said and gave me the following instructions: “Bring a bathing suit, a nice dress for dinner, clothes to hike, bike and exercise in, and dress nice for when we arrive.”

Since it was only for a weekend, and we live in New England, I was able to narrow it down a little. Another clue: the climate would be similar to our home near Boston. It was mid April so I planned accordingly, wondering if we were heading north to Maine,Vermont or Quebec, west to Lenox or somewhere in the Berkshires or south to Connecticut or Rhode Island or even New York City.

We left at 1 p.m., right on schedule and took a left out of the driveway eliminating the northern choices. As we drove, he kept the map hidden.

Have you ever been surprised? Usually I find the anticipation can be more fun and exciting than the actual event itself, but since I didn’t know where I was going, and the roads kept changing, the options narrowing, and the hours increasing, I began to find the mystery a little frustrating. As my voice expressed incredulity as we passed yet another option, and I asked, emphasis on the where, “Where are we going?” My husband laughed. “This is more fun than I thought it would be,” he said.

In New York, the grass was greener than at home. Mountains appeared to our right; his answer to my question confirmed their identity, “The Catskills.” As the roads became smaller with several twists and turns, he was forced to have me navigate. But there was no “Aha!” By this time I knew I was in New York and near the Catskills, and I knew we were going some place new, to a place I had never been or even heard of before.

We drove by stone walls and through small colorful towns where buildings on the main streets were painted a variety of bright colors as they paralleled a river. We saw signs for SUNY (State University New York) New Paltz and double backed after taking a wrong turn and up and away from the Catskills toward the Shawangunk Mountains (aka The Gunks) eventually turning up a hill toward Mohonk Mountain House, our destination for the weekend.

Trip Taken April 2011