Top Chef Tour

Today I spent the day in the Strip District. I explored the Pittsburgh Flea Market and watched a live show from Bravo's Top Chef.

The two chef's present mostly conducted a question and answer session, but also prepared a dish. Most interesting part of the show to me was that they prepared the chicken sous vide. The chicken was placed in an air tight bag and placed in the water of a sous vide cooker. This machine knows the exact temperature that chicken coagulates, so it is never raw and never overcooked. This machine can also be used to cook steak to any desired state.

We also had what looked and felt like mashed potatoes, but had a more aromatic taste. They were tulip bulbs purchased from Lotus, the Asian food store in the strip. Apparently this is a "healthier" version of mashed potatoes. I hope to try to recreate them!

It was fun to hear from the chefs about their passion for food and how they made it a career. They said they don't have jobs, its just their lives.

In other culinary news, I tried the Mediterranean stacker at Right By Nature. Cucumbers, tomatoes, red onions, mixed greens, artichokes, and olive tapenade. Yum!

Print Making Projects

The following are prints I completed in Printmaking Studio... enjoy!












Pomegranate carved into easy cut


















Stenciled "Warhol" Strawberry Cupcakes




















Lemons placed on a zinc plate with saline solution


















Soft ground of dried limes, two plates














Red cabbage carved from linoleum

Garden Library

Here are my two favorite books to use when working in the garden:

1) Good Bug, Bad Bug: Who's Who, What They Do, and How to Manage Them Organically (All You Need to Know about the Insects in Your Garden)

by Jessica Walliser

This book has full-color photos of 36 bugs that one might find in the garden. There are easy to understand instructions and advice about how to attract "good" bugs to the garden and ward off the "bad" bugs without using pesticides.

My favorite example of a time when this book was useful to me was when we found a bad bug with good bugs on it. The bad bug was a horned caterpillar with aphidius wasp eggs on top of him. Although the caterpillar was harmful to the garden, the aphidius wasps were much more helpful, so we let him stay!

2) The Vegetable Gardener's Bible

By Edward C. Smith

This book has how to information from seed to compost for all of the vegetables in our garden. He includes helpful tips about companion planting, composting, etc. When I need to plant a vegetable I have never planted before, I open this book and read his simple instructions.

When planting potatoes last year, this was particularly helpful. Potatoes need to be cut into 2 0z pieces so that you get as many seeds as possible. Each 2 oz piece needs at least 2 "eyes" in order for it to grow. During times of famine, people would save the potatoes that were seeds instead of eating them, because they knew that they could receive about 20 pounds of potatoes for every 2 oz seed.

Chelsea Market Food Tour

Yesterday I went on a food tour of Chelsea Market in New York City. I had some of the most amazing food here. In a way, the market reminded me of the Strip District, only indoors. Check out the details here. Here are the highlights of the three hour tour:

Elena's
The first stop was at Elena's, a bakery. Here we were given an entire "oatmeal everything" cookie. This cookie was almost the size of my face and worth every bite. They ship out of state... we asked (as Americans, we expect to get these cookies whenever we want!).

Ronny Brook Milk Bar
Here we sampled whole chocolate milk. My family was curious about the pasteurization process, so I was able to talk with them about the possible health benefits of whole milk. They decided it was good, but too fattening for them!

The Lobster Place
Our tour guide showed us a live lobster and how to calm him down (by rubbing the top of his head). He said the sign of a good seafood store is that it smells like the ocean, but not "fishy." We each had a cup of lobster bisque. When I was a kid, I proclaimed lobster as my favorite food (even though I only had it once a year). This made my inner child very happy!

All other stops were equally impressive and tasty. After the tour, we walked around and explored more shops. The idea of the market is that you can go and buy your party dress and your groceries for your big event all in one stop. This is probably far from what Nabisco thought the building would turn into (Nabisco's bakery originated in the building). The building is also home to the Food Network. The buildings surrounding Chelsea Market are a part of the meatpacking district. Any building with an awning was a meatpacking location.

Strip District Field Trip

The best part of Pittsburgh, especially for foodies, is the Strip District. If I could spend everyday down there, I would. I love that the many cultures of Pittsburgh come together on these few blocks and are brought together by food. As a field trip for class, we had a mini tour of the Strip District.

La Prima Espresso
My favorite coffee for two years has been La Prima Espresso. We were given the opportunity to visit the roasting facility and learn about the roasting process. Sam showed us where all the coffee beans are stored (the organic beans are stored in their own location).

The difference between different roasts is only a few seconds in the roaster. Sam showed us a glass container with layers of beans ranging from unroasted green beans to the darkest roast.

Reyna's
I usually buy my salsa and tortilla's here when I can, but I have never been around when they were making the tortillas. The contraption that they moved along looked like something from Willy Wonka. I couldn't believe how soft these tortillas were. They were delicious!

Enrico's
I have never eaten at Enrico's and was sad that I couldn't stay and have lunch. Here we learned about how they fire their oven to bake pizzas and bread. We learned that the ashes are so hot even when there is no fire that you can put a jar of beans and greens in the ashes and they will cook. I can't imagine standing in front of that heat all day!

Lotus Foods
My favorite thing in Lotus is Pocky, but I am curious to buy frozen dumplings and their homemade tofu. I have tried a few other things there too. Hopefully I will be able to learn how to cook Asian food, because it is one of my favorite kinds of food! I love the variety of produce that is available. Gregg pointed out that here in America, the Asian food stores must accommodate for many different regions and countries of Asian cuisine, so that explains the many varieties of things like chili paste.

Street Food
I sampled chicken tacos outside of Reyna's that were amazing! The corn tortilla reminded me of my time in Belize and Guatemala. I'm glad to know I can go here for that familiar flavor. I also tried a vegetable egg roll from an Asian food stand. It was very large and had a nice, crispy shell. The cabbage inside had a sweet flavor. I'm ready to go back and sample some more!

Penn Mac
Penn Mac is my favorite store in the strip because it is where I can find the Italian foods that I grew up on. I am known for buying containers of olives and fresh mozzarella and sometimes crunchy bread and eating it all day long. This store and the whole strip remind me of the traditions of my family.

Spring!

Everything is quickly growing (almost faster than we can keep up with!). It has been so warm that the plants require watering as often as possible. Work and pick applications are due soon for this summer, and I am excited to participate again!



I am happy to follow these greenhouse plants from seedling to fruit. The sun is out, too, so I have a bit of cabin fever. I am ready for sun on my skin and fresh greens to eat! I heard somewhere that in certain cultures of India, it is believed that eating close to the land or returning to one's place of origin to eat from the land is a rejuvenating process. Whether or not this is true, I have to agree that last summer I felt a difference in my body from receiving most of my food from the organic garden.

Last summer, I also finished reading Animal, Vegetable, Miracle by Barbara Kingsolver. Kingsolver and her family spent an entire year eating only local foods and producing much of their own food themselves. She made a wonderful point about local eating -- One does not need to source everything locally. Buying local items when possible can make an impact on the local economy, the environment, and one's well being.

Grapes are Here!

At this point, the greenhouse is a tomato forest! We also have rainbow chard and peppers that are well on their way. Seedlings of cabbage, broccoli, cauliflower, chilies, eggplant, and cucumbers are sprouting. This week, Shannon and I turned three piles of compost and "healed in" some grapes.

Other exciting news: peas are in the ground! They are the first to go in this season. Summer is quickly approaching.

Here is a visual catalog of the progress in the greenhouse:



Shannon and I teamed up with Puma for some of the extra difficult tasks in the greenhouse, like lounging in the sun. Puma is the farm cat who reigns over all 388 acres of Eden Hall Farm Campus. Don't let any one fool you -- he holds the power on this land!