Pie Contest In Photos

What an incredible night this was! We thought we might get 40, maybe 50 pies, but no, we got 86 pies for the first ever CitySeed Pie Contest to benefit the SNAP (Food Stamp Double Value program). The event was an amazing partnership with On9 and so many generous donations were made from 116 Crown, Ashley's Ice Cream, Amity Wine&Spirits, and so many others!! We can't wait for next year!!

(Although I don't know if I can say the same for the poor judges who had to taste 86 pies!!!)

Thanks to the fabulous Dj Toot-Skee, who had us all jammin' in the street (working off the calories, as we put them on!) The pie above was made by the 4 year-old group at Creating Kid's preschool, and won best pie made by a kid!

 The judges deliberating!

 The fab folks at 116 Crown, mixed up a great blueberry lemonade cocktail with berries donated by Jones Family Farm (and picked by me!), and fresh herbs from Common Ground School Farm!

And what would we have done without the amazing chalk art by Amy Christensen of Elm City Market (and the crew of kid artists!!)  

Many thanks to all the incredible New Haven community members of all ages who baked delicious homemade pies! You all helped to make this event an incredible success for our the Food Stamp Double Value program, and also for the pure blessing of people coming together around good food. Here's to YOU and here's to PIE!!  

Pie Contest Block Party Friday August 2nd!!

It's Here! The Pie Contest and Pie Party to raise money for CitySeed's Food Stamp Double Value Program. It's gonna be a fabulous party in the street with tons of pie, Ashley's Ice Cream, Dj Tootskee, a Cash Bar by 116 Crown and some fun kid activities!

If you didn't buy tickets online, you can still get them at the event (cash or credit card).

If you want to help out, serve pie, paint faces or serve drinks...come on down to 71 Orange St in New Haven, CT Friday August 2nd. Party is 6-8pm, Volunteers come around 4:30 to help out!

Our celebrity judges include Mayor DeSetefano, Nadine Nelson of Global Local Gourmet, Colin Caplan of Taste New Haven, Matt Finer of Devil's Gear Bike Shop (he can handle eating all that pie!), Joanne Sculli of Solar Youth (a self proclaimed pie lover), and Alex Biker of Marjolaine Bakery.

There are lots more details on our website if you are interested in making a pie, or just want to know more!

It's the hottest party in town tonight! Hope to see you there!

Cold Brew Iced Coffee

I love good coffee. Espresso especially, but good coffee with hints of chocolate and a smooth rich finish is like heaven to me. In the summer I keep a jar of iced coffee on hand for my morning (or sometimes afternoon coffee). Many coffee shops these days make cold brewed iced coffee, and I thought I'd finally try it at home. Cold brewed iced coffee, when done right has all the delicious rich flavor of coffee without the acidity, that's the appeal (also, you don't have to boil water in the 100 degree weather). I had seen some crazy contraptions for this brewing method, but a google search made me realized you don't need anything special to make it at home.  I found this excellent post from a chef at Cooks Illustrated, America's Test Kitchen. He seems to have tested the heck out of this recipe and includes great instructions and photos. I will summarize and simplify it here, but check out his post for more details: - photos and description   and: - recipe (I altered this a bit).

His recipe uses 1:1 coffee to water ratio. I'm sure this makes great coffee, but it is a bit too costly for my wallet, so I used less coffee, and still got a great result. I suggest you play with this recipe, trying different roasts of coffee (medium or dark) and different amounts of coffee. The variables I wouldn't change are: 

1. grind your coffee very fine (espresso or turkish coffee fine)

2. let it steep for 24 hours. It may look dark and ready to go, but it really won't have enough flavor until it steeps for the full 24.

Cold Brew Iced Coffee

2 cups (or up to 3 cups) finely ground coffee (medium roast is recommended)

4 cups room temperature water

1. Stir coffee and water together in a french press or other jar. Let stand covered for 24 hours. Stirring once or twice, especially in the beginning.
2. After 24 hours: If using a french press, press the solids to the bottom of the press. Pour the coffee through a paper filter set in a strainer (this will take a while). If you don't have a French press, pour the coffee through a strainer to remove large solids and then through a paper strainer to remove the fine grinds. 

This will result in a concentrated coffee which you can pour over ice and add a desired amount of water to get the richness you like and enjoy. (His recipe dilutes the coffee with an equal amount of water, pours over ice, and adds a pinch of salt.....I enjoyed mine with a bit of cream...)

If you are interested in some other fun summer drinks check out:

Bitter Lemon or Limeade

Sun Tea

Farmers' Strawberry Lemonade (this has cream in it)

And then there are the spritzers....juice or fruit syrups with seltzer....I love summer drinks!

But, back to coffee. For you die-hard coffee heads out there, what are your cold brew techniques?

Frozen Fruit to Beat the Heat

I am a true northerner, I love the cold, and can't really take the heat. So this summer has been rough, and it's only early July!  It's days like these that I am so thankful for electricity and my freezer. Homemade popsicles using juice or smoothies have taken up residence at the top of my freezer. Popsicles take very little effort, but for an even easier delicious frozen treat, I often freeze grapes and bananas straight up. These two fruits don't freeze solid like a strawberry, they stay slightly soft in the center so you can enjoy them right out of the freezer without breaking your teeth. The perfect healthy antidote to the heat. 

Frozen Grapes: Wash and dry grapes (I use domestic or organic grapes).  Place in a single layer on a flat surface in the freezer. Freeze for a few hours or over night. Enjoy. You can transfer grapes to a bag once they are frozen. For an elegant take on this treat, freeze tiny champagne grapes on the stem, and serve them right out of the freezer.

Frozen Bananas: Slice a ripe banana in half. Poke a chop stick or popsicle stick into the cut end of the banana. Place on a pan or container lid in your freezer. Freeze and enjoy. For a little more fun, you can dip these in melted chocolate and nuts, but I love them just as is. 

What frozen treats are you making this summer?

Strawberry Season Has Arrived!!!

It has been raining an unbelievable amount this past week, but somehow the strawberries seem to be surviving! Today I collected my kids after school and headed off to the country side to pick berries. It was a welcome change from the usual daily grind. My heart was literally racing as I approached the berry fileds and knelt down to start picking. The thrill that nature (with the help of some good farmers) produces these delicious fruits for us to eat is just incredible. We came home with 19 pounds of berries. Now it's time to clean, cut freeze cook and enjoy them.

Here are some great strawberry recipes from years past:

Strawberry Jam 

Best Ever & No Pectin 

Strawberry Farmers Lemonade

Strawberries with Lemon Verbena Cream

Salad with Strawberries, Goat Cheese and Salt & Pepper Almonds

Strawberry Coconut Milk "Ice Cream"















I picked my strawberries at Jones Family Farms again this year (and a few in my backyard). If you are looking for a place to pick, check: pickyourown.org or in CT go to buyctgrown.com.

What are you planning to do with your berries?

Salad with Strawberries, Goat Cheese and Salt & Pepper Almonds

Sweet is usually the direction I go when it comes to strawberries, but these gorgeous berries are also delicious with herbs, cheese or just on a simple salad. As my contribution to a four family picnic I tossed together this salad with some beautiful strawberries, fresh goat cheese, salt and pepper almonds and a basil tarragon vinaigrette. The flavors and textures in this salad are wonderful, and it's a little healthier than strawberry shortcake....

Salad with Strawberries, Goat Cheese and Salt & Pepper Almonds
with Basil Tarragon Vinaigrette

One large head red leaf lettuce washed, dried and torn
1 pint strawberries, cleaned and sliced
4 oz of fresh chevre goat cheese (or feta)
1/2 cup whole raw almonds
1 tablespoon butter
salt and peppe

To make Salt & Pepper Almonds:
Heat a heavy bottomed skillet, add butter. Over medium heat toss in almonds, salt and freshly ground pepper. Cook, stirring occasionally until almonds are starting to brown, but not burn. Let cool.

To make Basil Tarragon Vinaigrette:
1/2 cup extra virgin olive oil
3 tablespoons vinegar (white, white balsamic or apple cider is fine)
Salt and pepper to taste
1 teaspoon sugar, honey or agave
handful each of basil and tarragon, finely chopped

Whisk all ingredients together or shake well in a jar.

To assemble salad:
Toss lettuce with dressing. Top with almonds, strawberries and crumbled goat cheese.

Enjoy!!!  

If you want to go pick some berries, check out: pickyourown.org or in CT try: buyctgrown.com
My favorite strawberry picking spot is: jonesfamilyfarms.com in Shelton, CT

What savory dishes do you make with strawberries?

Quick Yellow Rice & Beans

This dish is one of my favorite quick standby meals. I love rice and beans because it's delicious, inexpensive, healthy and easy. It's also versitile. Sometimes I make it with chicken, sometimes with olives or peppers if I have them. The yellow can come from saffron or saffron powder, but more often I use a little tumeric, as it is cheaper and I always have it around. This meal literally takes 3 minutes to put in the rice cooker and is great on it's own or topped with a fried egg and salad. The bowl above was a batch I made for one of my kids birthday parties, when I suddenly realized that I had not planned much food for the adults, so quickly threw the ingredients into the cooker, flipped the switch and presto... a quickly meal.

Of course you can make this in a pot or frying pan, but I do love my rice cooker that I got at a tag sale about 15 years ago. Now rice cookers are sold just about everywhere, including pharmacies, like Wallgreens!

You don't really need much of a recipe for this dish. Just remember the parts: rice, liquid, seasoning, beans and fun additions like olives, peas, broccoli, spinach, peppers, curry&raisins etc....If you like your veggies bright green you can add them at the very end or cook them separately and mix them in at the end.

For this batch I used:
2 cups jasmine rice*
3 cups water
1 can beans ( I think I used half black and half kidney in this batch)
1/2 teaspoon turmeric (or saffron or achiote)
1 teaspoon salt or adobo seasoning (or make your own using salt, garlic powder, salt and pepper)**
handful of pitted green olives (optional)
half a red pepper finely diced (optional)
1 cup peas (optional)

*If using brown rice, use 2 Cups rice to 4 Cups water or stock
** you can taste the liquid before cooking and adjust seasoning as needed.
Add all the ingredients into a rice cooker. Click it on to cook, wait and then enjoy!

A few weeks ago I made this version of chicken with yellow rice and beans. Season and sear skinless chicken thighs in a little oil in a deep frying pan, remove and add onion. Saute until translucent, add rice  and saute for one minute. Add beans, chicken, seasoning and water or stock. Bring to a simmer, reduce heat to low, cover and cook for 20 minutes or until rice is tender. Add a touch more water if needed.

If you feel like making this even more special and delicious, finely chop or puree lots of onion, garlic and any herbs you like (cilantro is nice). Saute this mixture in a bit of olive oil, add rice and saute until opaque, then add the liquid or the rest of your ingredients.

How do you like to make rice and beans?

Spring Gardening

Aside from my sugar snap peas, some garlic and some lettuce seeds, my garden is still waiting for seeds and plants. I made the mistake of planting some little cucumber seedlings a week or so ago (see my daughter planting them above), but the cold and hard rain hammered them to oblivion...good thing there is still time to plant more, lots more!

We grow food in six raised beds in our backyard. If you want to see how we built them, check out this detailed post. We used douglas fir for the wood, which is much cheaper than cedar, and seems to be holding up quite well. Each year we add some compost to the beds and plant more seeds and seedlings. I love that it is easier and easier to find seeds and seedlings at the grocery store, flower stands and farmers' markets, there is an ever expanding variety of food to grow. Even the big box stores are carrying organic seeds (not that I'm promoting that you by them there, but still!)

My bag of seeds from years past and a note pad to map out where I'm planting...essential!

If you are in the northeast, there is still time to build some raised beds, fill some pots, or prep some window boxes for growing food. If you are in the New Haven area this weekend, go check out the Common Ground School seedling sale. Get there early, it's usually packed and they have tons of varieties of tomatoes and cucumbers, peppers....sheep sheering, face painting and more. 

For more info:

How to Build Raised Garden Beds Affordably

Common Ground Seedling Sale and Farm Festival - Saturday May 18th 10am-3pm

Also, check out some of these great FREE garden events happening around town this season...thank you to the New Haven Food Policy Council's Urban Agriculture Working Group!

What are you planting in your garden?