spooning » Things We Like

Porridge Pots and Brown Betties @ Ancient Industries

Califia Suntree — Mon, 23 Apr 2012 17:13:30 +0000

I am a huge fan of enamel-coated cookware. It’s a superior alternative to nonstick, doesn’t react with acids or wine like cast iron will, and is just so darned pretty. But unless you turn to eBay, Le Creuset and its ilk have been the only game in town enamelwise. But now the extremely delectable online shop Ancient Industries has started selling a wide assortment of Austrian-made enameled steel cookware in charming pastel hues. Offerings include a sunny yellow omelette pan, a raspberry-pink “porridge pot,” and a perfect colander (shown). The site features other hard-to-find British items like a spurtle—a stick specifically tailored for stirring porridge—and the apotheosis of tea pots, the Brown Betty.

Ancient Industries | U.S. Shop.

Edible Westside Launches Premier Issue

Califia Suntree — Tue, 06 Mar 2012 22:50:17 +0000

Ever since Edible Los Angeles folded in 2009, the city has been without an Edible franchise. The Edible magazines–which won a collective 2011 James Beard Award for Publication of the Year–are part of Edible Communities, a centralized publisher that provides editorial and other support, as well as excellent design, for local food publications anywhere anyone wants to set one up. To date, they have almost 50 publications, from Allegheny to Wasatch and, now, the Westside of L.A.! It’s wonderful to have a local Edible again, and I’m happy to say that I have a piece in the premier issue, about my family’s long history with Santa Monica’s Warszawa restaurant. You can check out a digital version of the magazine here, or go here to see a map of where hard copies are available.

Good Food Winner! Farmhouse Culture Kraut

Califia Suntree — Sun, 26 Feb 2012 18:29:00 +0000

Big congrats to Farmhouse Culture for winning this year’s Good Food Award in the Pickles category for their smoky-hot-zesty-fabulous Smoked Jalapeño Saurkraut. Santa Cruz-based Farmhouse Culture makes fantastic krauts from organic California produce, and the award is well-earned. Check out a Spooning recipe for a grilled cheddar cheese sandwich made with my top Farmhouse pick, the green apple kraut. If you want to play around with the award-winning Smoked Jalapeño kraut, try it on a turkey and Swiss cheese sandwich, or on a hot dog (mmmm), or as they suggest, use it to to make some dang tangy nachos! Check out the complete list of Good Food Award winners here.

Good Food Winner! – Farmhouse Culture.

Finally! A Reusable “K Cup”

Califia Suntree — Fri, 13 Jan 2012 20:01:04 +0000

I have been waiting for some clever charlie to figure this out. Single-cup brewers have been an environmental nightmare, what with roughly 5 billion of those damned “coffee pods” ending up in landfills in 2011. The pods are neither recyclable nor compostable, but now, finally, there is a reusable option for Keurig machines. Fill the pod your own grounds, to your desired strength, and brew away one cup at a time, if that’s your thing.

Ekobrew Reusable Filter for Keurig Single Cup Brewers.

Bid Now! 1946 Pullman Car

Califia Suntree — Thu, 03 Nov 2011 19:14:43 +0000

I have never been so tempted to open a restaurant. Look at those turquoise chairs at the counter!

“This 1946 Pullman Budd Round End Observation Kitchen and Dining Car – is no longer in use and is being sold by the rail service company to free up funds.

This WWII vintage dining and kitchen car was manufactured by Pullman in 1946 and at the time was state of the art. Relive the past and buy this 85′ car as a guest house, starter restaurant or put it back on the tracks.

The interior is in excellent shape and includes a coffee bar, kitchen and dining area. The under carriage was certified four years ago.”

Pullman Railroad Budd Round End Observation Kitchen and Dining Car – 1946.

Halloween Special: Zombie Birthday Cake

Califia Suntree — Mon, 31 Oct 2011 06:00:46 +0000

Strippers jumping out of cakes is so passé. But zombies? Now that’s a party! In honor of Halloween (and Zombie-Americans’ $5 billion share of our economy), here’s an incredible photo of my friend Carrie’s creepy-fabulous birthday cake. Yes, that is an undead corpse’s hand trying to escape its red velvet tomb and grab you with its delicious marzipan fingers. This fully edible work of pastry art was created by Cakes by Mona New York, based on Carrie’s design. The birthday girl gives the cake a rotting, gore-covered thumbs up: “Best bloody cake that a fondant loving zombie could hope for.”

Tasty Tip: Halvah with Yogurt

Califia Suntree — Mon, 31 Oct 2011 00:26:28 +0000

I’ve always loved halvah in principle but not in practice. On the one hand, what’s not to love about dense, flaky sweetened tahini studded with pistachios? On the other–lord almighty is that sweet! My teeth ache just thinking about it. So what to do with the glorious pound of halvah (pictured here) that my dear friend Avigail brought me from Israel (along with a jar of green Ethiopian tahini that I hoard and covet)? I was so grateful, but panicked as she handed it to me. How am I going to go through an entire pound of halvah without collapsing in a diabetic coma? “By the way,” says the dear friend, reading my mind, “my family tells me they eat this with yogurt over there.” Fortunately halvah has a half-life of maybe a century, because it took me weeks to get the nerve to crack the package and take a teeth-achy nibble. Then I remembered–yogurt! I took a hefty scoop and crumbled it all over a bowl of Greek yogurt…It was a revelation. The yogurt tang covered the intense sweetness, and the halvah mellowed the yogurt. The nutty flavor came forward, and the textures of flaky, crunchy and creamy came together like a bowl of Holy Land Chubby Hubby. That tub of halvah was gone in a couple weeks, and now I can’t eat yogurt any other way.

Will Work for Food

Califia Suntree — Sun, 26 Jun 2011 18:18:17 +0000

When the job market craters, ideals usually end up playing second fiddle to practical concerns like rent and health insurance. There is some good news on the employment front, though, for those interested in nonprofits and the so-called “green economy.” Nonprofit job board Idealist reported a threefold increase in environmentally-oriented jobs since 2008, and interest in sustainable and local foodstuffs doesn’t seem to be waning anytime soon. So it makes sense that a job-search site dedicated to just that niche–”meaningful” nonprofit work in the food sector–would pop up. Good Food Jobs, launched last year by Cornell grads Taylor Cocalis and Dorothy Neagle, describes itself as a “gastro-job search tool” that specializes in employment opportunities with “food artisans, policy makers and purveyors, retailers and restaurateurs, economists, ecologists, and more.” Their blog profiles culinary do-gooders and entrepreneurs, to remind us that hard times often bring out capitalism’s imaginative side. If you love food, and need a job, start your hunt here.

Virgin Mary Banana Chips and More! at the Museum of Food Anomalies

Califia Suntree — Wed, 01 Jun 2011 18:28:39 +0000

This mysterious funnel cake seahorse is courtesy of the magical mystery tour of conjoined fruits, bizarre cereal formations, and many, many happy faces, that is the Museum of Food Anomalies (MoFA). Described as “an online exhibition of the Art of Regular Food Gone Horribly Wrong,” the site at once challenges you to see the koala bears in your pancake, and occasionally ponder the wisdom of eating mass-produced foodstuffs. Anyway, MoFA is a nice food-related break from Cute Overload. (Thanks to Pee-Wee Herman for this one, whose Facebook page is a constant source of delightful weirdness.)

Copenhagen, via Los Angeles

Califia Suntree — Tue, 24 May 2011 18:27:51 +0000

If, as the hot weather descends, you find yourself mourning spring and humming Scot Walker’s Copenhagen, thinking about “snowdrops falling through the night,” you’re in for some good news if you live in L.A. Two expat Danes have opened up shop in the city, and are offering authentic Danish ice cream at Paradis in Los Feliz and Montrose, and baked goods at Hygge Bakery, in Downtown. Paradis offers traditional gelato-esque Danish is (pronounced “ice”), which is a tad sweeter and creamier than the Italian variety, in flavors like roasted pistachio (thumbs up!) and marzipan, and with toppings like the marshmallowish flødebolle. For cooler days, head to Hygge Bakery for a strong coffee and one of their excellent small cakes. According to my Danish friend, hygge translates very roughly to “coziness,” and is a key aspect of Danish culture. It would seem that marzipan is also key, and the best of the desserts at Hygge are encased in it. At last, Scandinavian treats without a trip to the Ikea cafeteria!