I’m excited about this, and I know customers of the Troy Farmers Market and Schenectady Greenmarket will be as well – Tara Kitchen (purveyors of Moroccan cuisine at both markets) will be launching their own restaurant in Schenectady, scheduled to open on Tuesday, January 31.

The restaurant – Tara Kitchen, natch – will be located at 431 Liberty Street in Schenectady, just a stone’s throw from City Hall and the Post Office. Their website is listed as “coming soon”, so I don’t have any details on the menu. All I’m saying is that their incredible chicken harira better be on there (I’m sure it will – it’s gained kind of a cult following at the markets and the recipe made it into Metroland’s 2011 Holiday Entertaining issue).

I’m not very familiar with Moroccan cuisine, other than an occasional tagine and some couscous, so I’m looking forward to a new experience. And, it doesn’t hurt that it’s only a few blocks from my office.

Another thing to look forward to: owner Aneesa Waheed has promised a podcast interview with me in the near future, after opening week.

(for fans of their store on State Street, they have closed it in order to focus their efforts on the new restaurant and the farmers markets.)

The Chicago 7 dog from DC-3

If you’ll remember, BFF Sarah and I visited Capitol Hill hotdogggery DC-3 during my November visit to Our Nation’s Capital. And I liked it so much I went back by myself two days later.  Anyway, I just saw that the Food Network show “Heat Seekers” (don’t know it, but whatever) recently stopped by DC-3 to shoot some footage for an upcoming episode.

According to the Huffington Post,

The show, which features mouth-scorching cuisine, was lured by two spicy items: The Q’s Seoul bulgogi and kimchi dog, topped with marinated rib-eye bulgogi, pickled kimchi and hot Sriracha sauce; and the Three-Alarm Cruncher, a take on D.C.’s famous half-smoke wrapped in bacon, split and filled with jalapenos and covered in spicy chili.

Anyway, I thought Sarah might find this interesting, since she lives only a few blocks from the place (and because she’s a fan of the half-smoke). I guess we should be glad we got in there, because it’s going to be a madhouse once that ep airs. Get your dogs now!

• Red Wine May Reduce Risk of Breast Cancer: A new Cedars-Sinai study shows that drinking moderate amounts of red wine may lower the risk of breast cancer. Please define “moderate amounts”. I want to make sure I’m getting enough.
• Newsworthy for those of us in NY’s Capital Region: Mazzone Hospitality has launched its “Angelo’s Preferred” rewards program, which gives customers reward dollars based on purchases. You earn 1 point for every dollar spent at participating locations and every time you reach 500 points you get a $25 gift card automatically added to your Rewards Card (plus, you get a $10 Reward just for registering for the card). Additional benefits include rewards on your birthdays and anniversaries (my birthday is coming up soon – February 3 – in case you’re thinking of getting me a little something), and some other perks.   You can accumulate points at the following Mazzone properties: Angelo’s 677 Prime, Angelo’s Tavolo (Scotia), The Inn at Glen Sanders Mansion, Patron’s Club at the Hall of Springs, Aperitivo Bistro (Schenectady), Prime at Saratoga National, and the New Prime Bar & Grill in Clifton Park.  Go get your card: www.angelospreferred.com.
• If you like Starbucks (which I do – I really really do), then you should head over to your local shop this weekend for a free tasting of their new roasts, and cast your vote for the one you love most. Starbucks even promises a thank you gift. The tastings will be going on in the US this Thursday-Saturday (Jan 12-14). Canadians have to wait til February 9-11 for their tasting. Ha ha, Canucks. That’ll teach you not to live where it’s so damn cold that it takes a whole extra month to get there.
• 

  thaaat's right...bring it right over here....

  Take a look around the office – someone there is bound to be carrying around that blasted Girl Scout Cookie order form. Yes, it’s Girl Scout Cookie Time and I’ve succumbed to the crushing pressure of extra calories to help my friend’s daughter earn a badge (you’re welcome, Joe). And coincidentally, Bob also ordered two boxes from his friend’s daughter. So now we’ve got SIX FREAKING BOXES OF COOKIES coming to our house.  I’m really only half-complaining: one of those boxes will contain my beloved Samoas. Yeah, baby. Also arriving with our order: this year’s new cookie, the Savannah Smiles.  Savannah Smiles are wedge-shaped lemon cookies, dusted with powdered sugar.  They’re named after the place where Girl Scouting began, in honor of the Girl Scouts’ 100th Anniversary. DAMN YOU GIRL SCOUT GOODNESS. Don’t you know I went on a(nother) diet this year???

• Speaking of diets, are you feeling a bit filthy on the inside? Do you feel the need…the need to cleanse? Well, our pal Gwyneth Paltrow is offering readers of goop, her ridiculously awful “lifestyle website”, the opportunity to shell out $425 for the goop cleanse. The cleanse consists of…oh, who the f*** cares. Gwyneth Paltrow, you skinny bitch, you can kiss my ass. I’ve got an idea – how about a 99¢ Beefy 5-Layer Burrito from Taco Bell? Same results, 0.23% of the cost.

Well, I’m so disgusted by the thought of Gwynnie’s cleanse that I need to end this here.

Yep. It’s happening!

Two days worth of joyous foodie news that has made me extremely happy:

• Penzey’s will open a location in Crossgates Mall, opening date March 2012. Love Penzey’s. I’m so excited, and not just because of all the money I’ll save on shipping costs! Steve Barnes from Tablehopping had the news yesterday.

• Trader Joe’s has FINALLY announced (after years of endless maddening speculation and grass-roots campaigning) that they’ll be opening a location on Wolf Road in Albany. The Business Review broke the story this afternoon (Friday).

Well, good thing I just paid off my car. I’m gonna need a lot of spending money.

If you’re interested in reading the press release, it’s after the jump.

Trader Joe’s to Open Albany Store Located at 79 Wolf Road

The Store is Scheduled To Open 2nd Quarter 2012

(January 6, 2012) Monrovia, CA – Trader Joe’s, a unique, neighborhood grocery store with foods and beverages from the exotic to the basic, has signed a lease to open a new store in Albany located at 79 Wolf Road. The store is scheduled to open second quarter 2012 and is approximately 13,000 square feet in size.

Trader Joe’s was originally named in recognition of its distinct grocery buying process, because they search the world for great values and distinctive products. Crew members (store employees) consider themselves “traders on the culinary seas.” Crewmembers sport brightly colored Hawaiian-themed shirts, adding to the light-hearted air of the store.

Many area residents after the store opens can expect to receive a copy of the Trader Joe’s “Fearless Flyer” in their mailboxes. The Fearless Flyer is a somewhat irreverent description of a timely selection of Trader Joe’s products. It’s been called a cross between Consumer Reports and Mad Magazine. Each edition highlights a selection of Trader Joe’s products that the company buyers believe are worthy of customer interest, including comfort foods and items that are organic or have other special attributes.

Trader Joe’s carries an extensive array of domestic and imported foods and beverages including fresh baked artisan breads, Arabica bean coffees, international frozen entrées, 100% juices, fresh crop nuts, deli items, and vitamins and supplements, as well as the basics, like milk and eggs – all at honest, low prices.

Trader Joe’s is truly a grocery store unlike any other. Trader Joe’s is a “store of stories,” meaning every item in the store has its own virtues — high quality ingredients, great flavor or simply an extraordinary price — many items often feature all of those qualities. Another significant point of difference, all of Trader Joe’s prices are everyday prices. Trader Joe’s doesn’t have “sales” for a few days, only to hike the prices back up again. Their prices change only when their costs change — there are no fancy promotions, discount cards or couponing wars.

So how does Trader Joe’s offer unique groceries at prices everyone can afford? By offering more than 2000 items under the Trader Joe’s private label, which includes Trader Darwin’s vitamins (For the Survival of the Fittest), Trader José’s salsas, Trader Giotto’s marinara sauces, in addition to specially purchased items.

Also, Trader Joe’s buys differently than other grocers – they purchase from manufacturers, not through distributors. They’ll take a brand name product, take out the preservatives and artificial colors and ingredients, and put it under their Trader Joe’s label to sell it at a real discount.

Trader Joe’s introduces approximately a dozen new items every week, heightening the store’s adventurous appeal. Our buyers travel around the world searching out unique products at great values. In order for an item to be sold in a Trader Joe’s store, it must pass the scrutiny of a discerning tasting panel. Thousands of items are tasted each year to find products that both appeal to the culinary adventurer and microwave aficionado.

###

Trader Joe’s is a chain of neighborhood grocery stores featuring high quality imported and domestic foods and beverages at honest, low prices. Trader Joe’s (www.traderjoes.com) began in 1958 in the Los Angeles area. Since then, Trader Joe’s has expanded to more than 360 stores in 31 states.

What’s great about Chipotle, if you aren’t aware of it, is their focus on fresh, sustainable, responsible, high-quality food – a concept they call Food with Integrity (FWI). Some interesting facts (from their press release):

• Chipotle expects to use over 10 million pounds of produce from local family farms in 2011, up from 5 million pounds in 2010
• The local produce will be grown on farms within 350 miles of the restaurants where it will be served
• All the pork, beef and chicken they serve is naturally and humanely raised (an all vegetarian diet, no added hormones or antibiotics and responsible animal husbandry)
• In 2011, Chipotle will purchase over 100 million pounds of naturally raised meats and sell more naturally raised meat than any other restaurant company
• Its sour cream and cheeses are made from milk that is rBGH-free (recombinant bovine growth hormone); 35% of it is from pasture-raised cows
• 40 percent of the black and pinto beans used are organically grown with about 5 percent using water-saving conservation tilling methods

This is all pretty great, considering the sorry state of the rest of the fast-food industry.

For my part, I’m excited to have another lunch option close by my office. I love Chipotle’s rice (the cilantro really makes it for me), and I think it’s time I tried some other things on their menu besides a chicken burrito bowl with pinto beans, corn salsa and cheese. Seriously, that’s all I’ve ever ordered.

The Schenectady Chipotle will be open from 11am – 10pm daily, and will offer fax and on-line order pick up.

picture at www.washingtoncitypaper.com

Washington DC’s City Paper reports that a neighborhood in the District finally has what the rest of the free world has – a cupcake bakery. But this one has a twist.  Olivia’s Cupcakes (located at 2318 Minnesota Ave. SE) has installed a sheet of bulletproof glass between the customers and the cupcakes. From what I understand, the neighborhood is a little rough, and the glass was installed to protect employees from robberies. Says owner Cindy Bullock:

“I have owned several businesses in this area and we have been robbed several times. We wanted to make [the shop] elegant and beautiful, but because of the teenagers and having my children here we wanted to protect them.”

I applaud people for trying to improve their neighborhood, and I do not condone violence. Not even against cupcakes. (Though their website makes me a bit stabby).

Sarah, I don’t want to go here when I visit, ok?

Hot Harry’s is a fast casual restaurant and catering business co-founded in 2004 by Samir Abdallah and his wife Maggie Abdallah, in Pittsfield, MA. Hot Harry franchises are currently open locally in Albany, East Greenbush & Schenectady, further out in Pittsfield, as well as one location in Cedar Rapids, Iowa.  Menu items include fresh burritos, tacos and other California-style dishes for breakfast, lunch & dinner; eat in or take out.  They also do catering. Their website is www.hotharrysburritos.com.

The proximity to Siena College practically guarantees success for Hot Harry’s. And I’m a fan – they offer brown rice and whole wheat tortillas for their burritos, a welcome change from some other local burrito joints.

According to their website, they were supposed to open a location in Glenmont this past spring – I wonder what happened?

Photo courtesy National Peanut Board

Wholesale peanut prices have skyrocketed, and we can expect to feel the pinch very shortly, as peanut butter prices are expected to rise dramatically over the coming weeks.

According to weekly peanut prices posted on the USDA’s Farm Service Agency website (see the research I do for you?), peanut prices have been climbing steadily throughout 2011, going from a low of $543.06 per ton in January, to this week’s high of $1,203.26 per ton.  The FSA has reported a severe peanut shortage.

Two questions come to mind:

1. What happened?
2. What does this mean for me?

Two things happened to affect this year’s peanut crop: a drought, and the failure to plant enough peanuts. First off, farmers noticed that the price of cotton was spiking, so instead of planting peanuts they planted cotton, in the hopes of making a quick buck. Then, a lack of rain in the Southeast and Southwest devastated the already-smaller crop. Add to that a bout of crop disease, and you have a recipe for peanut prices going through the roof.

There’s (of course) a board of peanut people dedicated to the promotion and marketing of the delicious little groundnut: The National Peanut Board. I sent them an email asking for more information about the peanut shortage and how it may affect comsumers, and I received the following not-really-an answer within a longer, spin-filled release:

A combination of factors ― including rising energy prices and severe heat and drought throughout peanut growing regions this year ― are leading to a peanut crop that is smaller than last year. As a result, some peanut butter manufacturers have recently announced they expect to raise prices.  Still, according to the National Peanut Board, the cost of one serving of peanut butter (equivalent to one ounce, or two tablespoons) would increase less than four cents, from 12.7 to 16.5 cents.

So, let’s do the math: a jar of peanut butter is usually 16 ounces, and and increase of 3.8 per ounce would mean that your jar o’ Jif is gonna cost you about 61 cents more. My guess is that it goes even higher.  Hopefully we’ll still be able to find it – Trader Joe’s, which makes its own line of organic peanut butter, has discontinued it. But, hey! We don’t have a Trader Joe’s in the Capital Region!

So, what to do? I will not be quitting peanut butter – that’s like asking me to quit breathing.

Buy local, maybe? Saratoga Peanut Butter Company is my favorite brand, but they already charge $6.00 for a 16oz jar of the plain and plain/chunky varieties (more for their flavors and organic varieties). And that price is only if you buy it directly from them, like at a farmers market. Hannaford carries Saratoga Peanut butter, but the price is about $6.79 per jar there. Note: I sent them an email asking how the shortage will be impacting them, but I never heard back.

Switch to other nut butters? Maybe, though they are already more expensive – a 12oz jar of almond butter costs about $5.99. But, once the peanut butter price spikes, this may prove to be more economical.  Whatever you do, please don’t switch to supermarket brands or even name-brand peanut butters – those are filled with sugar and hydrogenated oils.  You don’t need that stuff.

My advice is just this: eat less peanut butter for now. Prices will go back to normal eventually, just like any other commodity.

Oh, and one more thing.

*********************

Some Peanut Facts:

• The United States produces 1.88 million metric tons of peanuts per year.
• In the US, seven states account for approximately 99 percent of all peanuts grown in the U.S. Georgia (41 percent) grows the largest proportion of all peanuts followed by Texas (24 percent), Alabama (10 percent), North Carolina (9 percent), Florida (6 percent), Virginia (5 percent), and Oklahoma (5 percent).
  

  Photo courtesy National Peanut Board

• There are four types of peanuts grown in the US: Runner, Virginia, Spanish, and Valencia
• There are enough peanuts in one acre to make 30,000 peanut butter sandwiches
• Americans consume more than 600 million pounds of peanuts, and 700 million pounds of peanut butter per year.  That’s a little more 2 pounds of peanut butter per person per year. Probably more, though, since every kid seems to have a peanut allergy these days. Still seems low to me, though.
• It takes about 540 peanuts to make one 12-ounce jar of peanut butter.
• People who live on the East Coast prefer smooth peanut butter, while West Coasters prefer chunky. Like that’s a surprise.
• Arachibutyrophobia is the fear of getting peanut butter stuck to the roof of your mouth.
• A serving size of peanuts is one ounce (28 grams) – which is equivalent to 28 whole peanuts or about a handful.
• Peanuts have more than 30 nutrients and contain more protein than any nut — seven grams per one ounce serving.
• More than 90 percent of American households have one or more jars of peanut butter in their pantry.
• January 24 is National Peanut Butter Day

Paletas! Paletas!

Paletas – the Spanish word for ice pops – are a street food staple throughout Latin American countries, and they come in two varieties: paletas de agua (water-based, like sorbet) and paletas de leche or paletas de crema (milk-based, like ice cream). The water varieties are basically water plus fruit puree and come in an endless array of flavors, limited only by seasonal fruit and the imagination – popular traditional flavors include watermelon, cantaloupe, lime, strawberry, and chocolate.  Popular paletas de leche flavors include vanilla, chocolate, rum, coconut, pecan/walnut (nuez), and arroz con leche, a type of rice pudding.

There seems to be a lot of room for creativity with this dessert. I can imagine just about any fruit and flavor combination would lend itself well to the frozen pop medium. One newly-minted paleta shop in North Carolina (it’s already started…) once had a featured flavor called “Cardamom Chocolate Brownie”. That sounds delicious, but not as an ice pop. I’d rather have an actual brownie.

I’m not a fan of ice pops – neither Popsicles® nor Fudgsicles® float my boat – probably because I have severely cold-sensitive teeth and eating an ice pop would likely make my skull collapse into itself. But I do remember being fond of them as a child – I would break a double-stick pop (grape was my preferred flavor) in half and eat one half while the other melted and dripped down my arm. Sometimes Mom would even let my sister and me make our own, using Kool-Aid and tiny Dixie cups. Those things were even messier than the Popsicles, because you couldn’t fit the damn things in your mouth and they melted all over the place and left a giant purple stain on your favorite Holly Hobby t-shirt.

What the hell was wrong with making them with Dixie cups and popsicle sticks? Why do people have to ruin my childhood memories?

But even though I’m not a fan, and wouldn’t likely purchase a paleta, I could absolutely see them taking off. It’s just the kind of thing mindless lemmings annoying hipsters foodies are likely to latch onto as “the next big thing”.  There’s already a home ice pop maker that’s become a huge seller on QVC – the Zoku Quick Pop Maker, which promises “”freezer pops in as little as seven minutes right on your kitchen counter–no electricity needed” (it has an insert that you freeze ahead of time, like a countertop ice cream freezer).

I can see it now – “poptiques”, double-decker ice pop buses, paleta theme parks, and a new Food Network show called “Paleta Wars”.  Competing businesses will start springing up in cities all over the country, in a national pissing contest over who had the original paleteria (I don’t even know if that’s a freaking real word).

I’m completely in favor of this silly trend, especially if it replaces cupcakes. My guess is that ice pops will start gaining national attention before the end of this year, and and it’s just a matter of time before the trend makes its way up here to the Capital Region. My prediction for Albany splashdown: July 2013. Give or take a week. By which time I will want to shove a sharpened popsicle stick in someone’s kidney.

I am a sucker for anything made from corn meal – corn bread, corn muffins, corn fritters, polenta, you name it – so this was an easy decision. And it was as good as I’d hoped. Coarse corn meal baked with fresh blueberries and only a small amount of sugar. Not too sweet, with tons of tart blueberries. I was so excited I forgot to take a picture. Sorry.

As is usually the case, the food is great and the service tends towards the slow side. But, they’re students, so you cut them some slack and enjoy the experience. And take an hour of personal time.

What I found to be the most exciting part of the experience was the conversation we had with instructor Jay Larkin as we were enjoying our desserts and cappuccinos.  Jay told us that the Casola Dining Room is now hooked up with Open Table – the electronic reservation service that you can access either online (at Open Table’s website or through the college’s website) or through their mobile app.  So now, if you don’t feel like playing the 10:00am Reservation Game of dial-busy signal-repeat (and I never feel like playing that game), you can simply search for a table using the handy-dandy Open Table service.  They’re still working out the details (including listing the particular cuisine available for that week), so for now you need to do a wee bit of homework to find out what you’ll be eating (schedule here and menus here).

Reservations will still be available two weeks prior to the date you wish to dine, and the phone reservation line is still active. But at the very least, Open Table will be able to help you secure a last-minute reservation (due to cancellation), or a reservation for an unpopular day/time.

This is a fantastic development for SCCC, since it will place them firmly in the digital age, and help them get more recognition for their stellar culinary program. Kudos to the person(s) who decided to join Open Table!

(Oh, the other exciting thing that happened at lunch was that a table of ladies sitting next to us recognized my voice from my days producing the Don Weeks Show on WGY. It was my own little Wendy Fan Club. So now I’m up to five members, including my mom)