Barbecue Weekend Is Here! Happy Memorial Day

This is the weekend to remember those that we have lost. Especially those who serve us so bravely in the military. Take time to raise a toast to all who have served us in their special way. This weekend across the country many of us will be enjoying the delicious foods created on an open fire.

Thursday begins the Kodiak Crab Festival in Kodiak Alaska. This local event features regional foods. Yes all the beautiful seafood from the Northern Pacific too. It is a quaint event that welcomes spring. It is a rich tradition that entertains the whole family with a midway of rides and games as well as music. Nothing brings a thaw more than good food and dancing. This event runs from May 27 through May 31.

In Shreveport, LA the Mudbug Madness kicks off. This is sure to be another great dance and food event. After all how can you sit still to zydeco music? This festival features crawfish and of course the southern Louisiana attitude ‘Laissez, les bon temps roulez.’ With great music and a goofy fun Crawfish Eating Contest this is sure to be a two-steppin’ good time. It takes place May 27 through May 30.

The St Louis Ribs America Festival starts Friday May 28^th  and runs through Monday the 31^st. This event features barbecue aficionados competing for the blue ribbon. We attendees get the benefit of tasting all the great barbecue styles from around the country. The topper to all the good eats is the musical entertainment including Bret Michaels headlining on Saturday night. Ain’t nothing better than dancing with a sloppy rib in your hand and a barbecue slathered mouth. You can access more information at www.Ribamerica.com.

Another great barbecue event is Marc’s Great American Rib Cook-off in Cleveland Ohio. The barbecue contests draw aficionados from Texas to Toronto. Famous Dave’s from Minnesota is the reigning champ and will be there to defend their title. We really like Famous Dave’s ribs with their spicy sauce. When we head out of Minneapolis we will find a Famous Dave’s to get one last taste of these finger lickin’ delights. As any good Memorial Day barbecue event this one entertains with more than a dozen bands to keep you swinging those hips. The Cook-off begins Friday and runs through Monday. For more information check out their website, http://www.cleveland.com/rib/

The World’s Largest Brat Festival in Madison, WI kicks off Friday and continues through Monday. This festival has raised close to one million dollars for local charities. It is about enjoying that Upper Midwest sausage and giving back to the community. Get there, eat brats and help them top the million dollar mark. It happens at Willow Island – Alliant Energy Center.

Fruit has become a balancing ingredient in many barbecue sauces. The Garden Grove Strawberry Festival will showcase strawberry confections as well as several contests for the whole family. This year’s theme is ‘Celebrating the Magic of Music’ You can learn more about the festival at, www.strawberryfestival.org/index.html

Finish your Memorial Weekend at the Bklyn Yard, 400 Carroll St. in Brooklyn, NY. Parked: Gowanus Food Truck Festival brings the best food trucks of New York City to showcase their offerings. What a great way to get the best street food without trying to get all over the city for your favorites. This is part of the celebration of the re-opening of BKLYN YARD, an event space along the Gowanus canal. You can access more information at www.meanredproductions.com/1582

There are many other food events around the country focused on barbecue and celebrating the dawning of summer. If you know something we should note and especially get to taste, please comment, so we all can satisfy our hunger for regional foods.

Food Events Abound

It is the beginning of summer and food festivals are tempting our adventurous palates. We will keep you aware of happenings in different parts of the country once a week. If you get a chance to attend any of these events please write a comment or review for your fellow readers

Cooking For Solutions kicks off their annual event on Friday night with a program featuring Chef of The Year, Suzanne Goin accompanied by Rick Bayless. at The Monterey Bay Aquarium. This event is about bringing awareness to seafood production and consumption in a more sustainable manner to bring keep our oceans healthy. Monterey Bay Aquarium’s Seafood Watch Program is the beneficiary. Great cause and many talented chefs preparing tasty food. Purchase tickets at their website, http://www.montereybayaquarium.org/vi/vi_events/cooking/default.aspx

Tour de Champagne takes it’s event to Atlanta this weekend. A one night event featuring pours from more than a dozen champagne producers and restaurants. This event benefits Angel Flight of Georgia. Purchase tickets at http://www.tourdechampagne.com/atlanta.html

Some of the best grapes grown in the US will put on a grand display at the Paso Robles Wine Festival in Paso Robles, CA. The food offerings and educational are provided by some of the region’s most talented chefs, featuring farm to table dishes. This weekend event has a lot to offer. Get your tickets at http://www.pasowine.com/events/wine-festival-tickets.php

Coastal Uncorked continues through the weekend in Myrtle Beach, SC. This Wine and Food event benefits a great cause…our future culinary professionals through donations to local culinary and hospitality programs. Be sure to check out the Food Fight Gala on Sunday. There will be food sampling and wine pours as you enjoy an Iron Chef style competition of area chefs. I know, you were thinking more pie in the face fun. But this is sure to please your palate without creating a huge dry cleaning bill. For more information and tickets visit http://www.coastaluncorked.com/

Train Food. How about a delicious food festival and the music of Train? The taste of Addison kicks off on Friday with more than 60 participating restaurants. Cousin LuLu tells us that Addison has more five star restaurants in a five mile radius than anywhere else! So this is bound to be a tasty treat. In addition to the food they have some great music lined up. Train is to perform on Saturday Night. Purchase tickets by visiting http://www.addisontexas.net/events/TasteAddison/

All things Sicilian in San Diego! This Festival of culture will take place in San Diego’s Little Italy neighborhood on Sunday. It features food, entertainment and cultural artisanry. You can even attend a traditional Sicilian wedding for a Sicilian American couple. It’s sure to be a good time in the southern California sun.

Have a delicious weekend. Did anyone make it to the Soul Food festival in San Antonio last week? We would love to hear about it. 

Awe Summertime. Food Events Abound!

It is the beginning of summer and food festivals are tempting our adventurous palates. We will keep you aware of happenings in different parts of the country once a week. If you get a chance to attend any of these events please write a comment or review for your fellow readers.

Friday Night marks the opening of the North Beach Friday Night Farmers Market. This is one of the most fun regular food happenings on the Chesapeake Bay. Though we are still very partial to beer and bushels for whiling away a sunny afternoon.

In San Antonio you can get closer to God beginning Friday morning at 10 am. A gospel choir will open the San Antonio Soul Food Festival in La Villita Square. This is a free event and you are asked to bring a canned food donation.

San Francisco will get you all worked up before watching or running with the colorful runners in the Bay to Breakers. The Annual OysterFest will take place on the Great Meadow in Fort Mason Saturday beginning at noon. This event promises great food, quenching brew and fun music to keep you on your toes starring Cake. This is a quintessential San Francisco weekend.

If you want a stinky good time, get to Seattle for the Seattle Cheese Festival to be held at Pike Place Public Market on Saturday and Sunday. Sponsored in part by DeLaurenti Food and Wine shop, one of our favorite Seattle food purveyors, this event will host more than two dozen international and domestic cheese makers. Wish we could be there as this event gets better every year.

If you are in Los Angeles, you can still get on the waiting list for FERMENT. Sue Conley from Cowgirl Creamery will present on the art of making cheese while touring you through samples of her highly regarded Mt Tam cheese at various ages. She will have musical integration from Chris Kallmyer making this a multi-media presentation. Machine Project, an innovative art collective that bridges art, science and craft, presents this event. Visit machineproject.com to get on the wait list.

Taste of Arlington, VA takes place on Sunday from noon to 5pm at the Ballston Common Mall. This year’s event has shown more growth and has added a bigger footprint with more food and wine options. You can buy your tickets at the event or on their website, Tasteofarlington.com.

Have a delicious weekend. We are headed to a family campout with our eyes peeled for farm stands along the way.

Mother’s Day Brunch-Eggs for Dinner

This last Sunday we celebrated Mother’s Day with a brunch. This may sound all too common but in our uncommon family we served it as an evening meal. Cinnamon rolls, omelet bar, fried potatoes, fruit, it was all a brunch should be. Most of us have experienced having a breakfast meal for dinner. After all, is there any thing more comforting than pancakes drenched in butter and syrup? It has to be the ultimate comfort food. It reminded me of a time I had invited some friends for dinner and found little in the pantry and refrigerator but worst of all little in my wallet. So as any good cook does, I improvised. I had some fresh corn, peppers, squash and tomatoes that I had purchased at the farmers market. I also had a dozen eggs, that’s four times three good eggs;-). I decided to make a corn waffle, top it off with ratatouille and a poached egg covered in hollandaise. The meal was a smashing success. My friends still talk about the creativity of the meal. I was glad because it only required I buy a lemon from the store. It left me money in my wallet to buy a sherbet to end the meal.

Eggs are a great protein that is highly appropriate to serve at dinnertime. In the early nineties I use to frequent a lovely little French bistro in the North Beach neighborhood of San Francisco. Café Jacqueline served soufflés and salads. It was my habit at first to have dinner at one of the great Italian restaurants, then walk over to Café Jacqueline for a dessert soufflé to share. One day I took a look at the complete menu and vowed to come back for a romantic dinner of a shared salad, shared savory soufflé and a shared sweet soufflé. It is still one of my fondest food memories. Now I find myself in Dallas and had discovered a restaurant called Rise in University Park. I was only lacking a companion to go and share a meal with me. Rise serves individual soufflés as well a plethora of other contemporary Bistro food. But I was there for the soufflé. The soufflés were light and moist. They were the perfect size for an entrée followed by a salad. The dessert soufflés also come in individual servings though we ordered just one to share. So it seems there is plenty of good reasons to have three good eggs for dinner.

Corn Waffle Recipe

2 ears corn, grilled
2 eggs, beaten
2 cups all-purpose flour
1 ½ cups milk
½ cup vegetable oil
1 tablespoon white sugar
4 teaspoons baking powder
¼ teaspoon salt
½ teaspoon vanilla extract

Remove kernels from cob and puree in a blender.
Pour into a mixing bowl with eggs milk, vanilla and oil. Mix well.
Add mixed dry ingredients of flour, salt, baking soda and sugar to the wet mixture. Stir with a whisk until wet. Do not over mix.
Pour batter into waffle iron according to directions.

Note: If using a Belgium Waffle Iron I always separate the eggs and whip the egg whites to a stiff peak, then fold them into the other ingredients.