Piquant

4th annual Edgy Moms event from Brooklyn Reading Works

So what is an edgy mom? Based on the reading I'd have to say it's a mom who questions authority and group-think, and who tells the truth, even if it's shocking. Also, judging from the night's readers, edgy moms are funny!

- Louise Sloan, author of Knock Yourself Up, A Tell All Guide to Becoming a Single Mom

Brooklyn Reading Works presents the Fourth Annual Edgy Mother's Day on May 20, 2010 at 8PM at The Old Stone House in Park Slope. It's motherhood without sanctimony and an evening  of maternal revelry, wisdom and irreverent fun.

 

This is not your mother's Mother's Day but a celebration of mommydom nonetheless that will shock, rock, and make you laugh 'til your thongs snap!

 

Hear Brooklyn writers of non-fiction, fiction, memoir and poetry rant and rave about mothers and motherhood. They will shock, amuse, and entertain but won't make you eat carrots before dessert.

 

Bring a friend. Or bring your mom.

 

Hosted by Louise Crawford and Sophia Romero, here's the evening's line-up:

--Marian Fontana, author of A Widow's Walk

--Rosemary Moore, author of Side Street

--Martha Southgate, author of Third Girl From the Left

--Wendy Ponte, author of Mothering Magazine's Having a Baby Naturally

--Sophia Romero, blogger, The Shiksa from Manila and author of Always Hiding

--Yona Zeldis McDonough, author of Breaking the Bank

--Michele Madigan Somerville, poet and author of Black Irish and WISEGAL

--Allison Pennell, F--cked in Park Slope Blogger and parenting writer

--Kathy Fine, educator

 

The Where and When

Date: May 20, 2010 at 8PM

Location:  The Old Stone House
Fifth Avenue between 3rd and 4th Streets
Phone:  718-768-3195
7:30 p.m.:  Open bar/Wine donated by Shawn Liquors
8:00 p.m.:  Reading

Suggested contribution:  $5 includes refreshments
Reading is open to all - not just mothers - though please leave children at home

 

Thai resort Outrigger Laguna Phuket offers rate deals

PHUKET, THAILAND, April 29, 2010 -- Outrigger Laguna Phuket Resort and Villas will have great value Summer rates from US$125 for guests staying in May or June 2010.

The 68-villa Outrigger property is part of the Laguna Destination Resort Phuket at Bang Tao beach, a 20-minute drive from Phuket international airport.

The two-bedroom villa is THB 4,000 (US$125) per night. The three-bedroom pool villa is THB 7,000 (US$219). The four-bedroom pool villa is THB 11,000 (US$344).

All rates include in-room daily continental breakfast. The Summer Special rates are subject to 18.7% tax and service charges.

At the resort, Outrigger guests have signing privileges at 30 food and beverage outlets and spa facilities across Laguna Destination Resort Phuket, and at the nearby Laguna Phuket Golf Course. Outrigger guests also receive a free five-minute transfer to the resort's own beach club at secluded Layan beach.

Also announced are enhanced services including an upgraded kids' club, the addition of barbecue facilities and children's trampolines in the gardens. The Bites Café in the Park menu now offers a wide range of lunch, dinner and kids' options. New and classic Thai dishes and international favorites have been added to the in-villa dining menus.

For more information

Visit www.outriggerphuket.com. Call (+66) 76 336 900. Or email: laguna@outrigger.co.th.

Sam the Cooking Guy: Spicy Chinese Chicken Pizza

  We get so tired of the same old drill for dinner.

Now we have Sam the Cooking Guy's just released cookbook, Awesome Recipes & Kitchen Shortcuts (Wiley, $19.95, 256 pp)  for new flavors and fun inspiration when dinner seems like drudge work.

Today we whipped up Spicy Chinese Chicken Pizza in what seemed only seconds - okay, really, minutes.

Just like Sam says in the cook book: You're going to like this a lot.  It was seriously finger-licking good - gooey with fresh mozzarella and tangy, spicy sweet from the hoisin sauce and the Thai chili paste.  The spring onions and fresh cilantro added a herbaceous kick and crunch. 

My 11-year-old son handled a lot of the prep work and while I'm still squeamish about his proximity to heat and flames - let go, Mommy, let go - we worked together to pull the meal off.  I love cooking with my son and he loves eating what we cook. Of course, I do too.

 Sam Zien, eleven-time local Emmy Award winner, hosts Sam the Cooking Guy on Cox Channel 4 in San Diego. A frequent guest on the Today Show, Zien has TV shows in syndication across the country.

Spicy Chinese Chicken Asian Pizza

adapted from the book

Makes one 10-inch pizza

Ingredients

1/3 cup hoisin sauce

2 teaspoons Asian chili paste

1 package pizza dough (we prefer Trader Joe's, but you can make do with Pillsbury)

2 cups cooked and cubed chicken

1/3 finely chopped spring green onions 

6 ounces fresh mozzarella, sliced

1/4 cup chopped cilantro for garnish

Preheat oven to 425 degrees Farenheit. In a small bowl, mix together hoisin sauce and chili paste, then spread over the rolled pizza crust.  Top with chicken, green oinons and cheese slices.

Bake about 12-15 minutes, depending on how hot your oven cooks, or until golden. Our test recipe took exactly 12 minutes. 

Sprinkle with cilantro to serve.  Serves 4.

Asparagus fresh spring roll with spicy sweet chili dipping sauce

It's asparagus season!  The tender and luscious green stalks are in the markets - or if you're lucky - in your gardens. 

I love eating asparagus steamed, sprinkled with sea salt and spritzed with a bit of lemon.  But I always enjoy trying something new.  When I saw this recipe for spring rolls made with fresh asparagus, I thought, wonderful, my favorite spring veggie in my favorite Asian wrapping.! 

The spring rolls, actually summer rolls since they aren't fried, are a version of the traditional Vietnamese roll, Gỏi cuốn, made with rice vermicelli, fresh herbs, shrimp and pork. Most often summer rolls are served with a peanut dipping sauce, but also are served with Nuoc Mam Cham, a fish sauce based sweet and sour sauce,

Asparagus fresh spring roll with spicy sweet chili dipping sauce

Makes 18 to 24 slices.

Prep Time: 20 minutes

Cook Time: 5 minutes

Total Time: 25 minutes

Ingredients:

• 1 pound asparagus
• 3/4 cup fresh mint leaves
• 3/4 cilantro leaves
• 1 mango or papaya
• Fresh ginger, 2-inch piece
• 1/2 red bell pepper
• 1/2 cup dry roasted, salted peanuts, chopped
• 2 cups fresh bean sprouts
• 8-inch dried rice paper spring roll wrappers, 6 to 8 sheets
• 1/4 cup store-bought Asian Sweet Chili sauce
• Juice of 1 lime

Preparation:

Prepare filling:

Blanche asparagus in boiling salted water until tender to the bite, 3 to 5 minutes. Peel and julienne mango or papaya and ginger. Julienne bell pepper. Set aside with remaining filling ingredients.

To assemble:

Fill a large bowl with hot water. Working with one wrapper at a time, slip rice paper wrapper into water until pliable, about 1 minute.

Place wrapper on cutting board. In the center, put 3 to 4 asparagus spears with the tips coming off the end of the wrapper slightly, 3 to 4 mango or papaya slices, 3-4 pepper slices, 3 tablespoons sprouts, 2 tablespoons herbs, sprinkling of ginger and peanuts.

Roll the wrapper from the bottom up, tightly. Leaving the ends open. Set aside and cover with a damp towel. Finish with remaining wrappers.

When ready to serve, slice wrappers into 3 segments each and stand upright on a serving platter.

Mix chili sauce and lime juice together. Serve along side the rolls as a dipping sauce.

Makes 18 to 24 slices.

2010 Peace March to Assisi

The 2010 Peace March from Perugia to Assisi is planned for Sunday, May 16.

The March for Peace starts in the center of Perugia, capital city of Umbria, and proceeds to Assisi, the City of Peace, about 18 miles away.

People of all ages and nationalities, lay and religious representatives and organizations from all over Italy and around the world walk side by side to the highest point in Assisi for a peaceful demonstration at the Rocca Maggiore, the ruined castle that overlooks the Basilica of St. Francis and the city below.

Read more at Italian Notebook.

Farm to Fork local NC fundraiser set May 23

Join a remarkable group of NC Piedmont and cooks for an evening of food, live music, and fun!

W.C. Breeze Family Farm
Extension and Research Center
4909 Walnut Grove Church Road
Hurdle Mills, Orange County
(A few miles north of Hillsborough)

Organized by Slow Food Triangle, Center for Environmental Farming Systems, and Orange County.

www.slowfoodtriangle.org

www.cefs.ncsu.edu

orange.ces.ncsu.edu

Proceeds will benefit the PLANT at Breeze Farm Enterprise Incubator, an innovative and important sustainable agriculture program in Orange County, and the Center for Environmental Farming Systems.

Last year,  more than $10,000  was raised.

Tickets are available now and must be purchased in advance at www.farmtoforknc.com.

$50 for members of Slow Food, CEFS, and Friends of Breeze Farm.

$60 for non-members.

Brownstone Brooklyn features secret gardens tour

City folk know how precious a postage stamp piece of green can be. Now you can catch a secret glimpse of what people are creating with their glorious green.

Brownstone Brooklyn Garden District presents its self-guided 13th Annual Garden Walk, June 6, 2010, from 11 am-5 pm.

Spend a Sunday afternoon being inspired by the creativity of this neighborhood's urban gardeners. Stops on the tour include single, double and triple-lot city refuges.

Pick up a self-guided map at the corner of Washington Avenue and Lafayette, just outside the entrance to the G train, and enter into a  green wonderland that cannot be seen from the street.

This year's stroll features 15 private gardens in the historic district of Clinton Hill, Brooklyn.

In addition to private gardens, many of which also feature the artwork of their creators folded into their greenery, the tour includes several vibrant community gardens, a newly planted garden entitled, Symbols, Parables and Healing, sponsored by BBGD in partnership with Teen Challenge, the drug recovery and prevention program at 444 Clinton Avenue, The Pratt sculpture Garden, green graffiti art installations and a Living-Couture Fashion Show in a neighborhood church.

All proceeds from the Garden Walk fund activities that support, encourage and facilitate local gardening, urban farming and environmental art.

Tickets are available in advance for $15 at:  http://www.brownpapertickets.com/event/107257

and for $20 the day of the event.  Local ticket outlets will be announced shortly.

photo: BBDG

Meals in minutes: meatballs or polpette

Everybody cheats on occasion.  It's easy to grab a bag of frozen meatballs, brown them, then sauce and serve. 

The question for me is why. Meatballs or polpette are the easiest quick meal - and if you plan ahead, you can make extra to freeze.

 

That way when you get home exhausted and wonder what's for dinner, you'll just have to reach in the freezer for a better meatball - homemade instead of store-bought.

For every meatball recipe you can imagine from Swedish to classic Italian, check out meatballrecipe.org.

 

Sunny with a chance of meatballs

Up early ths morning making the meatballs or polpettes that I'll be serving tonight with a lovely mushroom sauce. I wanted to let them sit today to incorporate all the lovely flavors of basil, garlic and onion.

Here's a sneak preview of the main event.

 

New iPhone application helps consumers know what's in food

CHICAGO, IL  - Consumers can easily access additive, allergen, ingredient and nutrient properties of any food product in-store by scanning food label barcodes with a new iPhone application from FoodEssentials.
 
Use the FoodEssentials Scanner to customize food label views to focus on particular ingredients, food intolerances, or dietary needs and then compare products side-by-side to help choose the best products for your family's needs.  
 
Food labeling is under increased scrutiny – including Michelle Obama’s push to improve labeling and the FDA’s recent Health and Diet Survey showing a 10% increase in consumers who read food labels. However, reading and comparing labels remains a confusing exercise for most consumers, not to mention allergy or food intolerance sufferers. 

¨Food labels contain a lot of information and everyone has their own specific needs,¨ said Anton Xavier, CEO of FoodEssentials who co-founded the Chicago-based company in 2008.  ¨We’re focused on delivering a personalized label experience for anyone with an allergy, food intolerance or specific need¨.

Download at iTunes for $4.99.