Plumberry Jam: Today in Northern Westchester: Food & Drink Archives

You Can Take the Girl Out of the City; Cravings Eats & Treats, Briarcliff Manor

Though you've finally made peace with your suburban existence (it's only taken you five plus years to get there), there are certain memories of your city life that linger. Chief among them are not the close proximity to shops, museums and theaters, but rather the soup from Hale n' Hearty and the frozen yogurt at Bloomingdales. Yes, you can scoot down to White Plains for your cold sour creamy fix, but it's not the same as when you were in your Carrie Bradshaw working girl heyday.

Westchester resident Erica Cohen feels your (hunger) pain. That's why she opened Cravings Eats & Treats in Briarcliff. This charming food shop is a haven for post-urbanites. In addition to paninis, quiches and fresh salad ingredients (a la NYC's Tossed), there's freshly baked muffins, scones, cookies and cupcakes, Hale n' Hearty soups and Bloomingdale's style frogurt (including the plain flavor) with toppings (including the Melba sauce and granola). Cue sound of angels singing!

"Coming from the city (many moons ago), I have kept my NYC mentality. Many Westchester families have also migrated up north from Manhattan and miss the comfort and availability of these great items. So, I decided to bring them here," says Cohen. The proprietor also offers a selection of culinary-themed gift items, including cute baking-mix kits for kids.

A place to purchase birthday presents and yogurt without waiting in a massive line? Cue more angels singing.

Cravings Eats & Treats
549 North State Road, Briarcliff Manor
914-944-4622
cravingsny@gmail.com

Posted by plumberry at 03:13 PM | Permalink

Take the Cake

Cupcakes, once cute little sisters to the much-revered birthday cake, have taken center stage to become the new black in the world of baked goods, thanks to specialty stores like Crumbs in NYC, and Westchester's Flour & Sun Bakery. Among their attributes: A perfect frosting-to-cake ratio, utensil-free eating, and doling them out is far easier than trying to slice-n-serve slabs of cake to 20 kids all screaming for a pink rose.

That's why you'll jump for joy that a new cupcake company has been born. BabyCakes, conceived by Chappaqua resident Stacey Munowitz, offers a line of gourmet vanilla and chocolate cupcakes and cupcake-cakes decorated with concession-stand toppings such as Kit Kats, nonpareils, Butterfingers, candy hearts, jellybeans and chocolate race cars. The little bundles of joy can be made using completely organic ingredients upon request for two dollars more per dozen. "Everyone who knows me knows that baking is my passion. It's something that just makes me happy," says Munowitz. "And cupcakes make everyone happy!"

Perhaps the best part? BabyCakes delivers to your doorstep. Which, on the day of your party, will make you very happy indeed.

BabyCakes
$22 per regular dozen
$24 per organic dozen
914-864-2757

Posted by plumberry at 01:12 PM | Permalink

See Food: The Boathouse

Yes, August is actually here already. You never did make it to the beach, did you? Well, you've never been a huge fan of sand or traffic anyway. Still, you would have enjoyed a good plate of seafood at some joint on the water.

Look no further than The Boathouse in Ossining to make your New England seaside dreams come true. Sit outside on the patio for a view of the boat-filled harbor and enjoy an array of salads, wraps, burgers and surf n' turf items from the menu, including lump crab cakes and Seafood Pot Pie. While they don't have lobster permanently on the menu, you can call a day or so in advance of your visit to ask them to add it to their daily fish order.

Since no meal at the shore would be complete without ice cream, skip the desserts and head to the Blue Pig in Croton-on-Hudson for a cone instead.

The Boathouse
4-6 Westerly Road
Ossining, NY
914-923-6466

Posted by plumberry at 12:52 PM | Permalink

Play Ball!

The subject line of his email read "playing softball sunday night". The body, where one might expect to find something along the lines of "do u mind?"; "ok w. u?"; "any conflicts?" to appear, was conspicuously empty. Also missing were promises of having dinner made, homework checked and jammies laid out before leaving, as you would do if he were "babysitting."

Well, two can play at that game. It's time for a Ladies' Night Out, and he can figure out how to get himself home, fix dinner for the kids and/or arrange for coverage while you enjoy yourself. Here's where to take your girls and let it all hang out:

Pour, Mount Kisco: Greet owner Anthony by name, and let him help you select just the right wine with the acumen of a perfumer mixing a signature scent. In addition to boasting one of the widest and finest selections of wines by the glass and a delectable menu of nibbles, Pour's lounge-style seating means you won't get stuck sitting next to that frenemy all night long. http://www.pourmtkisco.com

O'Connors Public House, Mount Kisco: Back in your bar-crawling days, nothing beat a pint or two at a low-key Irish pub, where you could count on the bartender to buy back and shoo away the (bar)flys so you and your girlfriends could chat it up undisturbed. Indulge your retro yearnings in this new (and not skanky) Mount Kisco pub, with pool tables and darts to play on (just think twice before you hang his photo over the bulls-eye). http://www.oconnorspublichouse.com/home2.html

Willy Nick's, Katonah: Creative entrée salads (the Asian seared scallops are a must have) let you feel justified in indulging in WN's desserts; their Caipirinhas, Cosmpolitans and Hypnotizers might make you forget why you count calories in the first place. http://www.willynicks.com

Lucy's Lounge, Pleasantville: This upscale lounge features live music, even on weeknights, with Open Jams (R&B/Funk/Soul) on Tuesdays, Acoustic Guitar and Piano on Wednesdays and a Open Rock Jam and Showcase on Thursdays. And given that they're open till 3am, if the tunes make you want to party like a rock start, well, you can. http://www.lucys-lounge.com/

Posted by plumberry at 01:46 PM | Permalink

Super Fresh

Think back ten years or so to when your Sundays were spent meandering through the farmer's markets of New York City. You'd pick up some leafy greens, fragrant basil, plump eggplants, maybe a blueberry pie and enjoy the rest of the day cooking some cozy dinner for two. Little did you know that one day you would live not far from the farms from whence that produce came. And yet despite the close proximity to nature's bounty, your shelves are most likely stocked with goods from Costco runs, squeezed in when the kids are in school. (Don't you wish your last name was Kirkland?!) Not that there's anything wrong with housing a year's supply of tuna fish and frozen strawberries (we are at war, after all), but if you want fresh from the farm, here are some convenient and cost-saving ways to get it:

MyPersonalFarmer.com is now offering a customized Community Supported Agriculture (CSA) program. Here's how it works: You put up the cash to cover the farmer's costs and receive a portion of the farm's produce delivered to your doorstep (or the doorstep of another nearby CSA member). Every other week, you'll look forward to eight to twelve pounds of fruits and vegetables including salad greens, green vegetables, tomato varieties, squash, corn, root crops, cauliflower, cabbages, apples, peaches, plums and pears. You can expect at least seven different varieties of produce so that you'll never be stuck eating kale at every meal. In addition to produce, you can opt to purchase a dozen fresh eggs or a whole chicken with your order, as well as CSA add-ons including artisanal breads, gourmet cheeses, farm-fresh milk and yogurt, grass-fed hamburgers, desserts and healthy snacks. The deadline for joining is Friday, June 12th and the first delivery will be June 19 or 20th.
www.mypersonalfarmers.com

Evening Farm Market at Mount Kisco Train Station
If you're missing the Gestalt of a good farmer's market, but don't have time during the day to attend, Cabbage Hill Farm is holding farm stands every Thursday through October from 4:30 to 8:30pm at the Mount Kisco train station. www.cabbagehillfarm.org

More Places to Buy Local
Check these past Plumberries on local farms and markets:

Amawalk farm:
http://plumberryjam.com/nwtoday/2008/07/arent_you_picky.html

The Local-Voire's Handbook: http://plumberryjam.com/nwtoday/2008/05/the_localvoires_handbook.htm

Posted by plumberry2 at 10:10 AM | Permalink

A Tisket, a Tasket...

Yet another holiday is approaching whose raison d'etre seems to be inducing a full-fledged sugar mania in your children. Yes, there's some vague religious underpinning in there, but this whole Easter bunny business has only a tentative, if any, connection to all that. What it does have a connection to is the German immigrants who arrived in America during the 1700s; they brought the tradition of an egg-laying hare to our shores, where it promptly became a rabbit. (Not sure of the difference? Ask your zoologically obsessed seven-year-old.) From there, of course, plastic-grass-lined straw baskets packed with malted eggs, day-glo-colored jelly beans and chocolate menageries are but natural progressions.

Fancy Henny at Noka Joe's Sweet Shop

So, you can be a complete stick in the mud (and at this time of year, there's plenty of mud to stick in), or you can be a good momma bunny and hop over to NoKa Joe's Sweet Shop. Selections range from the charmingly goofy -- a cow that 'poops' jelly beans, a chicken who 'lays' gumballs, Pez Easter Characters -- to the adorable -- chocolate lambs, ducks, bunnies, lollipops, a wonderful solid chocolate Rabbit (named Mr. Dapper), and a very retro looking chocolate chicken wrapped in foil. Even the most health-minded will be hard pressed to keep the caloric count of the basket to a reasonable level.

Of course, there's never a time to indulge your inner child like the holidays, so yo Chocalate animals at Noka Joe's Sweet Shop

Chocalate animals at Noka Joe's Sweet Shop

u can deck out the adult-end of the table with truffles that look like bunnies, classic quarter-pound buttercream eggs in milk and dark chocolate, plus scads of foil-wrapped, milk- and dark-chocolate eggs and bunnies.

Just keep a map of where you hide all those eggs. Nothing, even milk on the car upholstery, is worse than finding a chocolate egg under the sofa cushion in July.

NoKa Joe's Sweet Shop
25 Katonah Ave
Katonah
914-232-7278
www.nokashop.com

Posted by plumberry at 01:12 PM | Permalink

Girl with Pearl Earring and Apple Fritter

In your college days, life was spent filling your head with facts and your belly with beer. Sponge-like, you soaked up knowledge about such interesting subjects as history, art and anthropology along with picking up a fact or two on not-so-stimulating-yet-far-more-useful ones (can you say 'statistics'?), then laid in a good buzz before the keg was even tapped (can you say 'ponies'?).

Now twenty (plus or minus a few) years post-grad, such pearls of wisdom are tougher to come by. Plus, the beer is just too fattening. Your exposure to culture, you are sad to report, is limited to reading the Style section of the Times and watching Project Runway and Real Housewives of New York City - although one could argue that those housewives could make an intriguing anthropological study. The point is your mind is a little mushy these days (although given the reduction in beer consumption, your middle is less so).

Revel in bygone days - both your own and the county's -- by attending "A Celebration of the Past" at Crabtree's Kittle House in Chappaqua on Monday, March 30th at 7pm. In the cozy Tap room, enjoy a sumptuous Colonial feast featuring recipes of Hudson Valley's original Dutch settlers. Starters will include baby veal meatballs with orange zest, oysters prepared with verjus and mace, and oliekoecken, warm apple fritters with raisins (the forerunners of the American doughnut), served with mulled Bishop's wine, as well as traditional ales and beers.

A four-course dinner menu of authentic 17th century recipes prepared using only local Hudson Valley ingredients follows. During dessert, food historian and author of Food, Drink and Celebrations of the Hudson Valley Dutch Peter G. Rose will give her talk (yes, her name is Peter) on Art in Food and Food in Art focusing on edibles as seen in the works of such Dutch Masters as Johannes Vermeer and Jan Steen.

A night among adults hungry for intellectual stimulation - a satisfying meal indeed.

A Celebration of the Past at Crabtree's Kittle House
11 Kittle Rd, Chappaqua
914-666-8044
The event is $50 plus tax and service charge and $40 plus tax and service charge for members of the Friends of the Chappaqua Library, Katonah Museum of Art and The Chappaqua Seniors.

Posted by plumberry2 at 10:33 PM | Permalink

No Reservations

In your former life, before carpool, homework and the flu, a spur-of-the-moment, mid-week dinner at some cozy hotspot with your mate was easy to plan -- even without Blackberries. With your briefcases tucked under the barstool, you'd sip on a robust cab, nose pressed into the menu to contemplate something hearty to take away the winter chill. Over a bowl of homemade orreciette, you'd share dreams of babies and houses to come, never knowing that your days of fine dining at Babbo were numbered.

So here you are up to your ears in carpools, homework and strep throat. But you are still spontaneous, dammit! First, you call the babysitter. Then, you text your husband 'we r going out - c u at 8:30 at Tarrylodge'.

You arrive at Tarry Lodge, Mario Batali and Joe Bastianich's new wildly popular Port Chester eatery, to find so many like-minded folk that you are relegated to eat at the bar. (It's Wednesday night in the suburbs! Who knew?) This suits you and your spontaneous self just fine. Your new BFFs -- bartenders Paul and Sharon -- pour you glasses of red from Bastianich's own label. Dining at the bar in this chummy, inviting atmosphere, next to perfect strangers, feels so oddly grown up that you forget that a mere few hours ago, you were the one playing waitress. You munch on fresh focaccia and olives and talk about what life was like before kids and house payments.

The food is special without trying to be, and the selections have their own personalities, woven expertly into a superb menu. Spared the pressure of the mandatory three-course order of a seated table, you instead you get to share -- not mac n' cheese, but plates of delicious food with another grown-up. You and your partner-in-calories work your way through the chopped salad, pappardelle bolognese and extra thin-crust pizza with hot sausages and roasted olives, your eyes shining in ecstasy as the feeding frenzy continues with pan-seared fluke francese with capers and artichokes.

You cap the night off with panettone pudding and Illy cappuccino. It's the perfect escape from your regular routine, at least until the alarm goes off the next morning at 6am.

Tarry Lodge
18 Mill Street
Port Chester, NY
www.tarrylodge.com
914-939-3111

Posted by plumberry2 at 11:18 AM | Permalink

Dining Out on a Dime

X20, 42, Harvest on Hudson -- so many restaurants, so little time, so little disposable cash. In light of the belt tightening that's going around, you may have put a moratorium on fine dining, but that doesn't mean you have to lay off your Saturday night babysitter just yet.

You can indulge in haute cuisine at a fraction of the cost during Hudson Valley Restaurant Week. From March 22nd to April 3rd, many of the region's well-known restaurants will offer prix-fixe dinners ($28) and lunches ($20). So now you really can eat like a king at Equus restaurant at Castle on the Hudson. At those prices, you may be able to dine out a few nights that week, filling your belly without emptying your wallet.

And if you happen to overindulge, just loosen your belt.

www.hudsonvalleyrestaurantweek.com

Posted by plumberry2 at 01:11 AM | Permalink

Cupcake Cafe

When (or if) the weather gets warmer, among the first things you'll do is shrug off that fleece and take the kids out for ice cream. There is something about this sweet ritual that never gets old -- that look of euphoria in their eyes as they survey the flavors, opting for something with hues not found in nature; the careful calculation of the toppings. (Gummy bears? Rainbow sprinkles? Oreo crumbs?). Sitting in the sunshine, ice cream dripping down their little faces, delicious memories. But when there's still snow on the ground, ice cream might just leave you cold.

Take them to the Flour & Sun Bakery instead, Westchester's first and only cupcake bakery. Lots of from-scratch flavors to choose from, topped with buttercream or cream cheese frosting and sprinkles, at this butter-colored bakery. Also on the menu are "Today's Specials" like Cookies and Cream, Hummingbird, Chocolate Mint, Lemon Poppy, Apple Cinnamon and Coconut. Cookies and bars are coming soon. You can perch at the counter with a cup of coffee or specialty tea while your kids happily devour their treats.

Ignoring your request for just one bite.

Flour & Sun Bakery
19 Washington Avenue, Pleasantville
914-495-3232
www.flourandsunbakery.com

Posted by plumberry2 at 12:39 AM | Permalink

Good Catch

When you go out to dinner, despite the fact that you really want to order that comfort food classic, roasted lemon chicken with red potatoes and tender asparagus, you go for the fish. Chicken, you can make at home. Fish is more complicated and leaves your home smelling, well, fishy. But if you want to break out of your poultry rut and jazz things up for a Friday night dinner at home, here’s one recipe for halibut that is so delicious (not to mention odor-free), you won’t want order to fish anymore either. Venison anyone?

Croissant-Crusted Halibut with Leeks
(Adapted from the America’s Test Kitchen Family Cookbook, Boston Baked Cod recipe)
1 cup croissant crumbs (pulse 1 croissant in food processor)
2 tablespoons fresh parsley, minced
4 tablespoons (1/2 stick) salted butter
3/4 cup leeks, minced
2 tablespoons fresh lemon juice
4 halibut fillets
Sea salt
Coarse pepper

Preheat the oven to 450 degrees.
Toast the breadcrumbs for 4 to 5 minutes.
Remove from oven and toss with 1 tablespoon of parsley.
In a small skillet, melt the butter over medium heat and add leeks.
Cook until softened for 2 minutes. Remove from heat and add lemon juice and 1 tablespoon of parsley.
Pat halibut fillets dry with a paper towel, season with salt and pepper and lay them in a 13-inch Pyrex baking dish coated with butter or baking spray.
Spoon leek mixture over fish and generously sprinkle croissant crumbs on top.
Bake for 15 minutes.

Posted by plumberry2 at 03:21 AM | Permalink

Pancake Day

Mardi Gras -- also known as Shrove Tuesday, or Fat Tuesday -- traditionally marks the finale to a season of frivolity and indulgence. While Lent -- the somber, reflective and generally no-fun-allowed period beginning the following day -- is particularly Christian in nature, the bacchanal spirit of Mardi Gras requires no creed to enjoy.

There are those who, inspired by the legendary festival of New Orleans, pull out the jambalaya and gumbo recipes at this time of year, and you salute them, if choosing not to emulate them. A simpler way to mark the occasion is with the tradition of pancakes. Pancakes? Yes, pancakes: As dairy products and eggs (along with meat) were originally proscribed for the observant during Lent, Shrove Tuesday presented the last chance to gobble up these treats. (Something to muse upon: This translates to the majority of Europe going vegan for 40 days. A practice possibly worth reintroducing to American culture for environmental and budgetary, if not religious, reasons.)

Given that the kids have been bugging you to do "Breakfast for Dinner," Tuesday presents a perfect excuse to do so. (You're being festive, not lazy.) If you care to carry tradition out to its fullest, make a thinner batter than usual, along the consistency of crepes. Then, instead of topping a stack with syrup as is typical at breakfast, roll the pancake around a filling of fresh fruit, whipped cream, chocolate sauce, or some decadent combination there of.

To make from scratch (it's no harder than doing it from Bisquick, honest), try this recipe, adapted from Nigella Lawson's Feast:

2 tablespoons butter or margarine, melted
1 cup all-purpose flour
1 1/3 cup milk
1 egg

Non-stick spray

Topping/Filling suggestions:
Fresh fruit
Blueberry syrup
Blackberry syrup
Nutella
Chocolate sauce (microwave ¼ cup chocolate chips with 2T milk or cream for 20 second; stir until smooth)
Whipped cream

In a large bowl, whisk together first four ingredients. Heat a large skillet (one with sloping sides) over medium high heat; coat with nonstick spay.

Ladle approximately ¼ cup of batter into the skillet, swirling to spread thin. Wait 30 to 60 seconds; flip and cook 30 seconds more. Remove to a plate. Repeat until batter is used up; layer parchment paper between individual crepes to prevent them from sticking together. (Conversely, you can just put each crepe, as it is finished, on the plate of the child hovering at your elbow, and allow him to begin overloading their crepe immediately. These are done quickly enough that there should not be too much screaming from waiting siblings.)

Posted by plumberry at 10:59 PM | Permalink

Piece of Cake

As a youngster, your main source of sustenance was peanut butter and jelly on white Wonder bread. The more squishy, refined and processed the bread, the better. No one ate whole-wheat bread, save a few oddballs with hippie-dippy health-nut parents. Today, whole-wheat varieties -- including even Wonder! -- blanket the bread aisle. You send your child to school assured that he is eating something healthy and won't be ridiculed for the color of his sandwich's skin.

But for those with celiac disease and allergies to gluten, the whole wheat world does more harm than good. This protein that provides most bread, cookies, birthday cake, brownies with their distinctive texture can wreak havoc on those with sensitivities to the substance.

What's a carb-loving kid to do? Ask her mom to bring her to the Three Dogs Gluten-Free Bakery in Briarcliff Manor. The only bakery of its kind in Westchester, Three Dogs offers a wide range of wheat-free treats including cakes, cookies, pastries, muffins and pies. The pina colada, chocolate-peanut butter and cardamom-lime bar cookies are local favorites. And sandwich and other savory breads are also for sale.

While the bakery caters to the gluten-free crowd, lucky allergy-free, iron-stomach folk will never miss regular flour thanks to baker and owner Karen Miller. After being diagnosed with celiac disease five years ago, the 27-year-old made it her mission to increase the yum-factor of gluten-free products. Now her goodies are just as delicious as anything else out there. But these results are just the icing on the cake. "I just love when kids who are on special diets come into the bakery and are able to choose anything they want," says Miller. "It's like heaven for them and their parents!"

It's always good to be able to have your cake and eat it too.

Three Dogs Gluten-Free Bakery
510 North State Rd.
Briarcliff Manor, NY 10501
914-762-2121
Threedogsgfbakery.com

Posted by plumberry at 01:59 PM | Permalink

Let Them Eat Cupcakes

Whether it's a birthday, graduation, wedding, new president, new job or lay-off, eggs, flour and sugar always seem to make an appearance during these special (and not-so-special) occasions. After all, it ain't a party until something's broke or you've eaten your Weight Watchers points in cake.

City folks (you remember them) have expanded their cake-eating time to include just about every night of the week as witnessed by the line snaked around Bleeker Street outside of Magnolia Bakery in NYC. Most regulars go for the pastel-colored frosted cupcakes to cure their sugar-fix. There's just something about cute little cuddly cupcakes that, no matter how old you are, make you feel good.

It's the same reason why you call the Cupcake Queen here in Westchester. Perfect for your child's birthday - or your own -- her royal highness of dessert offers ten scrumptious flavors including Pink Princess, White Out, Black Out, Oreo, Fairy Cake, and Tie-Dye - groovy!

But that's just the icing on the cake; all the baked goodies are filled with delicious cream (a la Hostess), and come at the very un-princess-y cost of $32 for two dozen. Plus, you will be given the royal treatment of having the cupcakes delivered right to your doorstep. (No waiting in bakery lines among the commoners.) The Queen's mother does the driving because her daughter doesn't have her license. No, she didn't get too many speeding tickets. She isn't old enough to drive yet. That's right, the Cupcake Queen is only 15! Samara Shutkind, a sophomore in high school started baking when a skiing accident sidelined her with a broken leg. While she is thrilled that her baking biz is taking off, she is most delighted by her ability to give back by donating 20 percent of her profits each month to a different worthy cause.

A teenager who doesn't act like a princess - enchanting!

Cupcake Queen
http://web.mac.com/cupcakequeen00/iWeb/Site/Cupcakes.html

Posted by plumberry at 12:24 PM | Permalink

Matzo Ball Soup for the Soul

If you celebrate Hanukkah in your home, you may have found that the holiday is less about commemorating the two-thousand-year-old miracle of the light that burned in the Temple for eight days and nights despite the lack of oil, and more about how many Wii games your kids can rack up in the same time period. And while the gift-giving schedule for Christmas is traditionally compacted to a single morning (usually a really early morning), a heck of a lot of loot can be stuffed in the stocking and under the tree. The spirit of giving, you muse, seems to have been beaten out by the spirit of getting.

If you want to give your child a gift that keeps on giving, order a copy of Raising a Child With Soul by noted educator Slovie Jungreis Wolff. The author, who is the leader of Young Couples at the Jewish heritage foundation Hineni in New York City, aims to give parents the tools they need to teach children gratitude and compassion, build character and self-esteem, and foster an environment filled with love and respect. "We try so hard to create beautiful homes for our children, we try to give them wonderful experiences, great schools and teachers. We worry about their emotional, physical, and financial security, but what about their spiritual security?" Wolff says. "We can and must raise children who will understand that they can better our world and live with a sense of mission and purpose. In other words, children with soul. And my book makes this 'doable' for today's parents." Wolff bases her teachings on wisdom found in the Torah. But that doesn't mean you need a Bat Mitzvah to appreciate her lessons. ""Raising children with character is possible for all parents," Wolff explains. "I have taken Jewish wisdom that has survived the centuries and brought it home for all of us to use in our everyday lives. It is universal."

Raising a Child with Soul, $10.17
www.raisingachildwithsoul.com

Posted by plumberry at 01:53 PM | Permalink

Summer's End

With the last remaining lazy days of summer down to the single digits, you're either marking time until the start of school, or refusing to face up to the fact that, yes, closing up the beach house is an impending reality. But meanwhile, thanks to the fact you have lit the farmers' market flame in your significant other's heart, there's a small truckload of summer squash to deal with.

Send him back out to buy an equally ridiculous amount of tomatoes, and make the following.

Summer Squash, Sweet Onion and Tomato Tian
A tian is Provencal-style vegetable casserole. And as usual, it sounds better in French.

Olive oil spray
4 medium summer squash, of any variety (roly-poly and yellow work well)
4 to 6 large, firm tomatoes, of a good slicing variety; a mix of colors is nice
2 Vidalia or other large, sweet onions
1 tablespoon dried oregano
Salt & pepper to taste
3 ounces pignoli (pine) nuts, coarsely ground
½ cup grated parmesan cheese

1)     Preheat over to 400 degrees Fahrenheit
2)     Slice the squash, tomatoes and onions into thin rounds, about 1/16 to 1/8 of an inch thick.
3)     Coat the interior of a 9x13 baking dish with olive oil spray.
4)     Place half the squash rounds, in single layer, but slightly overlapping, over thee bottom of the baking dish. Spray lightly with olive oil. Follow by a single layer, slightly overlapping, of half the onion rounds; spray lightly with olive oil. Follow by a single layer, slightly overlapping, of half of the tomatoes. Sprinkle with salt and pepper and half of the oregano.
5)     Repeat all layers with the second half of the vegetables, beginning with the squash and ending with the tomatoes. Sprinkle top with salt, pepper, remaining oregano, and pignoli nuts.
6)     Bake for 45 minutes. Remove from oven, raise heat to 450 degrees and top vegetables with grated cheese. Return to oven, and bake for another 15 minutes, or until cheese is melted.

Serves 6 to 8.

Posted by plumberry at 12:35 PM | Permalink

When Pigs Fly: Via Vanti

When The Flying Pig restaurant went further down the trough onto Lexington Avenue, you thought that the Mount Kisco train station had bought the farm. From time to time, you have peered wide-eyed inside, praying that something other than a bank or a nail salon might rise from the ashes. (And if there's one town that could house a bank or a nail salon at the train station, it's Mount Kisco, right?). After months of nothing but stacked chairs tangled in cobwebs, you all but lost hope. Then suddenly -- like an oasis in the desert -- arrived Via Vanti!

This Italian newcomer offers up something fresh to graze on all the live-long day. For breakfast, there are a variety of Italian baked goods including corn muffins made with imported polenta and freshly-brewed caffes. Lunch and dinner feature imaginative salads, breadless paninis (go South Beach diet!), "Bocco" boards of cured meats and imported cheeses (go Atkins!) and gourmet pizzettes (for cheating on either diet) along with an extensive Italian wine and cocktail list. Sweets are showcased strategically at the entrance including a selection of you'll-think-you're-in-Italy gelatos and sorbettos. (You've already blown your diet. Why stop now?)

If you're picturing red-and-white checked tablecloths with big bottles of olive oil and baskets of breadsticks, there's an Olive Garden in Poughkeepsie. Via Vanti's décor combines the traditional architecture of the historic train station with such contemporary elements as clear plexiglass panels, etched to resemble the Gothic window tracery of a Venetian palazzo, hung from the original tongue-and-groove ceiling; chairs and tables that would not be out of place at Milan DesignWeek; a white Carerra marble-topped bar and a vibrant Italian glass chandelier. Cool.

The official launch isn't until September 17th, so at least for now you have your pick of tables. By the end of the month, if you do find yourself waiting to be seated, as is the growing tradition of Mount Kisco hot spots (read: Café of Love), remember that you could be standing in a Citibank instead of deciding between Stracciatella and Tiramisu.

Via Vanti!
2 Kirby Plaza, Mount Kisco, NY 10549
(Mount Kisco Train Station, off Rte.133 approaching the village)
914-666-6400

Posted by plumberry at 03:00 PM | Permalink

Slice of Life: Watermelon Salad

Watermelon -- that iconic slice of summer, the refreshing and relatively low-cal end to a weekend barbecue -- also happens to be one of the great refrigerator space robbers of all time. No matter how many people you invite, you inevitably lose an entire produce drawer to the mighty fruit afterwards. (The resulting frustration is known as melon-choly.) If you’re looking at a week’s worth of melon, here’s an alternative way to enjoy it from Chef Elyce Jacobson of In Good Taste Catering.

WATERMELON SALAD:
2 cups cubed, seedless watermelon
1 cup diced, yellow grape tomatoes
1 cup crumbled feta (good quality)
1/2 cup fresh basil leaf, cut in chiffonade (see below)
3 tablespoons good quality balsamic vinegar
1/2 teaspoon sea salt

Combine watermelon, tomatoes, and feta cheese in a medium-sized, non-reactive bowl. Drizzle with balsamic vinegar. Sprinkle with basil and sea salt. Chill for 30 minutes.

To cut in chiffonade:
Stack basil leaves one on top of the other. Starting at stem end, roll tightly. While holding the leaves in this rolled form, start at right side of roll and make very fine, parallel cuts with your knife. After you are done, the basil will look shredded.

Posted by plumberry at 04:09 PM | Permalink

Cookie Dough: Art Girl Cookies

With the economy being what it is, either your shopping expeditions are the window kind or you're stashing away the shopping bags in your closet and money laundering the bill via half cash/half credit cards. Indeed you do your part by coming up with a million and one home-biz ideas a day, but somehow they are out of your head by the time you reach the carpool line.

But if you had to make some extra income, what would you do? This was the question that faced Pougquag, NY resident, Chris Garza, owner of ArtGirl Cookies, when her husband was laid off from his NYC-based publishing job. Though Garza loved baking and decorating cookies, especially around Christmas time, she never dreamed that her hobby would one day pay the mortgage. But that's exactly what happened when the mother of two grown children found herself at the baked goods counter at Dean & Deluca a few years ago. "I was just admiring the cookies and the sales girl asked if I made cookies myself. To this day, I have no idea why she asked me that," remembers Garza. "But the next thing I knew, I was sending a sample of my cookies to their buyer and today they sell over 100 bags of my product a week."

From animals and flowers to seashells and submarines, Garza, a former graphics designer, lets her cookies be the canvas for bright and colorful designs for every festive occasion and holiday. When she isn't decorating, she is walking around stores in town looking for inspiring shapes and then making her own cookies cutters to match them. The inspiration for the whimsical designs came from time spent in her daughter's Kindergarten class. "I remember volunteering in the classroom one day and the teacher telling the kids that they were going to draw cows using only black and white crayons. She insisted that they not use any other colors. I just thought that was crazy. Why should children's imaginations be put in a box that way? What's wrong with a purple cow with blue spots?"

Absolutely nothing, especially when it tastes as good as this.

ArtGirl Cookies
845-227-3203
www.artgirlcookies.com
ArtGirlCookies@aol.com

Posted by plumberry at 12:17 PM | Permalink

Beach Eating: Grilled Veggie Sandwiches

As a kid, after your mother applied a single coat of Coppertone SPF 4, your day at the beach was spent collecting shells, boogie boarding and digging to China -- or water, whichever came first. At noon, you were called back to headquarters for a warm, squished peanut-butter-and-jelly sandwich and a pile of chips. Since there was no such thing as Surfer's Secrets Sand Eliminator back then, it went with the territory that your sandwich was also slightly gritty -- giving a whole new meaning to the word sand-wich. Still, you wouldn't trade those memories for the world. But, as you've moved beyond PB&J, give this sandwich recipe from Sue Fuirst a try:

Best Beach Sandwich:
1 ciabatta roll or other crusty bread roll
2 Tb olive oil
1 Tb balsamic vinegar
½ tsp Basics Fuirst Vegetable seasoning
1 thick slice fresh mozzarella cheese
Assorted grilled vegetables
Handful of fresh arugula or other salad greens

Whisk together olive oil, vinegar and Basics Fuirst vegetable seasoning. Slice roll on the horizontal. Spoon half the dressing on each cut side of the roll. Layer the grilled vegetables on bottom half of bread. Follow with the mozzarella cheese and the arugula. Finish with top half of bread. Wrap tightly in plastic wrap. Throw in your tote bag to enjoy on the beach. This sandwich improves as the day progresses -- it's delicious freshly made and even better an hour or two later.

Posted by plumberry at 01:33 PM | Permalink

Aren't You Picky?: Amawalk Farms

Consider for a moment, if you will, the Not-In-My-Backyard (NIMBY) phenomenon as it pertains to flora and fauna. How often, when driving down the Saw Mill late in the afternoon, do you say "Hey, look kids! Deer! A fawn! Aren't they cute?!" Now consider whether those words would come out of your mouth when you see a pack full of Bambis in your backyard, near your vegetable garden. (And as you consider what words might actually come out of your mouth in such a situation, you realize they could not be printed in a wholesome publication such as Plumberry Jam.)

And then, of course, there are the blackberry canes. You shell out goodness knows how much to have the landscaper rip them out every year, and then pay approximately that much again at the grocery store to bring home a half pint to enjoy with your yogurt at breakfast. Go figure. Don't, however, go figuring what you will have to pay in therapists bills for your children, who think you are the meanest mommy EVER for not letting them have blackberries of their own to pick.

Well, there are those who say "yes in my backyard" - at least sort of - to the blackberry's cousin, the raspberry. And those YIMBY-ers would be the proprietors of Amawalk Farm, who have just opened their raspberry patch for pick-your-own heaven. You can enjoy playing in the bush leagues, so to speak, from now until mid-October. That's right - insanely fresh raspberries, raised organically (as everything at Amawalk is), at your sticky fingertips.

In addition to berries, Amawalk owners Marian and Larry Cross raise a variety of vegetables, including garlic, tomatoes (30 varieties, who knew?!), beets, carrots (in multiple colors, including, believe this, purple), squash, eggplant and beans. Certified organic, the farm dates back to 1825; the property has been in Marian's family since 1967. In 2004, the Crosses moved there full-time from the city and have been working since 2005 to bring it back into production. Recounts Marian, "As we were clearing the field, Larry opined that it was perfect for growing raspberries." How does a health care consultant from the city know what makes a good berry patch? "Larry knows from raspberries," smiles Marian. "He put himself through school growing them." Both ardent environmentalists and committed to local food, the two continue to add to their varieties, and are even moving into egg production.

So while your lettuce and tomato crops have been demolished by those backyard squatters, you can still indulge in fresh produce so local that it might've come from your own.

Amawalk Farm
Berry Picking:
$6 per pint/$5 per pint for 10 or more pints

Saturday:         10 AM to 6 PM
Sunday:              2 PM to 6 PM
Tues & Thurs:   3 PM to 6 PM

Call the Raspberry Hotline for picking conditions: 914-245-2319
www.amawalkfarm.org

Directions: At the intersection of NY Rte 35 and NY Rte 100 (3.5m west of I-684) turn SOUTH on Rte 100. Go 2.5m and turn RIGHT onto Moseman Avenue. Go 0.6m and turn RIGHT onto Wood Street. Go 0.8m and look for Amawalk Farm sign on RIGHT. Turn RIGHT onto Saward Lane, a gravel road. Follow to signs; turn right through large double gates into the field. Note: Wood Street Bridge off of NY 35 is presently closed. Use Moseman Avenue off of NY 100 to reach Wood Street until further notice.
.

Posted by plumberry at 12:32 PM | Permalink

Pound Foolish, Berry Wise: Blueberry Pound Cake

So lo and behold, that friend of yours has returned from foreign shores to spend her summer back in the States.   You served her and her family a proper proud-to-be-an-American welcome back dinner of burgers and dogs, cold salads and even colder beer (can't find that in London, now can one?). For dessert, your friend let you in on a marvelous secret that a friend of hers from Suffolk uses: To make a cake, just weigh your eggs, then weigh out the same of flour, sugar and butter."

"It works," she swears. "You want one tiny little cake, you use one egg. You need to make fifty fairy cakes [Editor's note: For non-Nigella fans, this is what they call cupcakes in the UK] for the kids' birthday, you use five or six eggs."

Um, but what about rising ingredients?

"Use self-rising flour."

So you tried it (even the self-rising flour, which you normally eschew). And it worked. Three eggs seem to be just the right size for a loaf of "pound" cake, which, according to all the baking references that you read but never actually cook from, is so called because originally, one pound of each ingredient was used in the making.

You added blueberries, because at this very moment, they are insanely good and insanely cheap, and you had to find something to do with at least a portion of four pints you just bought before they got moldy. And here it is:

Blueberry Lemon Pound Cake
3 large eggs, approx. 7 ounces total
Approximately 7 ounces each of self-rising flour, white sugar, and softened, unsalted butter.
Grated zest of 1 lemon
½ tsp vanilla
1 ½ cups blueberries, rinsed

Preheat oven to 350 degrees

1)     Weigh eggs (in their shell) on a food scale (the one you bought when you went on Weight Watchers for the sixth time) to determine exact weight. Weigh out the same amount of flour, sugar and butter.
2)     In a large mixing bowl, using a strong hand mixer set on medium high, cream together the sugar, butter and grated zest, until mixture is very light and fluffy.
3)     With mixer still on medium high, add eggs (without their shells, of course) and vanilla and beat in until mixture is smooth and light-yellow in color.
4)     Reduce mixture speed to medium low, and mix in flour in one addition.
5)     Using a spatula, fold in blueberries, then scrape batter into a greased-and-floured 9-inch loaf pan.
6)     Bake for 1 hour and 10 minutes, or until a toothpick inserted into the center comes out clean.

Makes one 9-inch loaf, plus highly lick-worthy beaters and bowl. Of course, if you're wise and listen to precautions about salmonella and raw eggs, you don't believe in licking the beaters anymore. Then again, one can now get salmonella poisoning by eating tomatoes and other vegetables, so there are those who believe that if one's gonna go, one should at least die happy. Your choice.

Posted by plumberry at 12:41 PM | Permalink

Koo For You: Spoon Asian Fusion Restuarant

They said it couldn't happen. They said it wouldn't happen. It surely would be a bank, a nail salon, a real estate office, a wireless store. Just when you thought all of your hopes were crushed with CVS opening its doors where you were told that Whole Foods was "definitely" opening, something magical has happened: The owners of your beloved Koo in Rye have opened Spoon Asian Fusion restaurant in Chappaqua.

No longer will you have to tack on 25 minutes of travel time to enjoy brightly flavored Far East fare. For starters, you've got such oldies-but-goodies as edamame, satay chicken, seafood shumai, tempura soft shell crab and rock shrimp with spicy sauce. There's a selection of tasty soups and fresh salads, really fresh (ie, non-fishy) sushi and sashimi plus cooked entrees such as Wok Glazed Ginger Chicken, Pad Thai, Vietnamese BBQ Pork Loin, and Japanese Seafood Udon.

The clean, contemporary dining room creates a cool enough atmosphere to dine in on a Saturday night, but low key enough to enjoy at lunchtime with or without the kids. Speaking of, take advantage of the Lunch Set menu that gives you an entrée or two sushi rolls plus a soup and an appetizer for $13.95. Just save room for a little something sweet such as warm chocolate cake, ginger crème brulee, or an assortment of sorbets and ice creams served sundae style with fresh whipped cream, strawberries and mint.
Just go soon before word gets out and your stuck waiting for a table -- for at least 25 minutes.

Spoon Asian Fusion
413-415 King Street (next to D'Agostino Supermarket)
Chappaqua, NY
914-238-1988
Monday to Thursday: Lunch 11:30 - 3:00, Dinner 4:30 - 10:00
Friday & Saturday: Lunch: 11:30 - 3:00, Dinner: 4:30 - 11:00
Sunday: 4:30 - 10:00

Posted by plumberry at 12:43 PM | Permalink

The Local-voire's Handbook

As much as you admire her, that friend of yours down the street might just send you over the edge: The estimates for the new geothermal heating system are spread across her desk; the solar hot water guys are scheduled for next week; her recycling bin is now fuller than her garbage and she's set up a compost bin for the rest of it. She even remembers to bring the re-usable shopping bags when she hits the grocery store.

Aha! As she fills out her application for environmental sainthood, pull a little one-up-womanship by cutting your food miles while she buys her heavy carbon-footprint, imported (organic) produce from that mega "green" grocery store. With the range of organic and small-farm options available in Northern Westchester, there's no shortage of delicious options raised virtually in your own backyard. The farmers' market season has kicked off throughout the area, so from now until about late October, you can keep up that gourmet reputation of yours and add the soupcon of "locally sourced" to your menu descriptions. (The truly ambitious, of course, will make use of the season's bounty and "put up", as they used to say, plenty of extras by canning or freezing so they can enjoy the stuff all year round.)

Just remember to bring your Eco-Bag!

Farmers' Markets & Farm Stands
Stone Barns Farm Market
Stone Barns Center for Food & Agriculture, 639 Bedford Road, Pocantico Hills; Wednesdays 3pm - 6pm (2pm - 3pm for Members, Seedling level and above) Fridays & Sundays 1pm - 4pm
Muscoot Farmers' Market
Muscoot Farm, Rt. 100, Somers; Sundays, 11am - 3pm
Ossining Farmers' Market
Corner of Main and Spring St.; Saturdays 8:30am - 2pm
Pleasantville Farmers' Market
Memorial Plaza off Manville Rd.; Saturdays 8:30am - 1pm
Katonah-Lewisboro Farmers' Market
John Jay High School, Route 121, Cross River; Saturdays 8:30am - 2pm
Tarrytown Farmers' Market
Patriot's Park on Rt. 9; Saturdays 8:30am - 2pm
Daisy Hill Farm Stand
133 Guard Hill Road, Bedford Corners
Kitchawan Farm Stand
716 Kitchawan Road (Rte 134), Ossining; Fridays 4pm-6pm; Saturdays 11am -2pm

Raised Locally, Available at Local Stores:
Rainbeau Ridge Goat Cheese: Available at Bedford Gourmet, Bedford Village
Tom's Killer Bee Honey: Available at Mount Kisco Seafood; Sgaglio's, Katonah; Plum Plums, Pound Ridge and other retailers
Daisy Hill Farm Eggs: Available at Mount Kisco Seafood

Posted by plumberry at 02:03 AM | Permalink

The Backyard Vacation

There was a point in your life when you looked forward to the long weekend thing. The summer rental was lined up and waiting for you; sitting on the LIE or GSP in traffic seemed no big deal (you just cranked up the tunes and jammed during the traffic jam); work was conveniently left behind for three days.

But now, with gas at over four dollars, kids to pack for (not to mention entertain during the ride), the office issues only an email away, and the knowledge that going away just means the same laundry and dishes in a different place, the whole thing seems like one big hassle. Still, you need to plan some way to entertain the troops. Let Plumberry Jam propose a new approach: The Backyard Vacation. Given the effort and expense to which you've gone to landscape the yard, install a playset and purchase outdoor toys, you might as well enjoy it, right? So here's how:

Step one: Make several gallons of lemonade and at least two batches of S'mores Bars. [Recipes follow.] Defrost double the amount of hamburgers and hot dogs you think your family will eat. Fill three dozen water balloons and hide from children.

Step two: Point children to backyard and the collection of playthings and sports equipment that has been gathered over the years. Inform them to entertain themselves.

Step three: Pour self glass of lemonade. Pour spouse a glass of lemonade. Ensconce yourselves in lounge chairs; pick up books and begin reading. [A selective start-of-summer reading list: Loving Frank by Nancy Horan; Any Human Heart by William Boyd; Cooking with Fernet Branca by James Hamilton-Paterson.] If children are not entertaining themselves, threaten to withhold S'mores Bars until they do. Add vodka to the lemonade. Continue reading.

Step four: When hit in the head for the fourth time with the Nerf football, go inside and retrieve water balloons. Commence water fight.

Step five: Greet neighbors who have wandered over because "it sounds like you guys are having fun." Point their children to the playthings and sports equipment. Point the parents to lemonade and vodka. Return self and spouse to the lounge chairs; tell adult neighbors to pull up a seat. Occasionally toss S'mores Bars into the backyard, as one might do if feeding wild animals, to keep children at bay.

Step six: Look at neighbors and ask if they are hungry. Send them back to their house to find chips; tell husband to turn on grill and put on the meat. Allow children to descend from the upper reaches of yard, hosing them off if necessary. Serve the burgers and dogs; eat chips from the bags; polish off remaining S'more bars. Put iPod into sound system; turn on outdoor speakers and dance on the patio. [Recommended song list follows.]

Repeat as often as necessary over course of weekend, changing backyards if desired.

RECIPES

S'mores Bars
(A Plumberry Jam Original Recipe)

1 stick butter
1/3 cup sugar
1 cup all-purpose white flour
½ cup whole wheat flour
½ teaspoon baking powder
½ teaspoon salt
½ teaspoon cinnamon
4 tablespoons water

1 cup mini marshmellows
¾ cup chocolate chips

Coat an 11x 9 baking dish with non-stick spry. Preheat oven to 350 degrees.

In a large mixing bowl, cream together butter and sugar.

In a separate bowl, sift together dry ingredients.

Using a fork, combine the dry ingredients into the butter-sugar mixture until mix resembles a fine meal. Add water and stir with fork until dough forms.

Press dough into baking dish. Bake for 20 minutes. Remove from oven; sprinkle marshmallows and chocolate chips over dough. Return to the oven and bake for addition 10 to 15 minutes.

Allow to cool and cut into bars.

Lemonade
(adapted from Joy of Cooking)
1 cups water
2 cups sugar or Splenda
Zest of 2 lemons
Juice of six lemons

2 liters of water

Preparation hints: Zest the lemons before squeezing them. Assign young and eager assistants to squeeze the lemons; strain juice to get rid of seeds before continuing.

Combine 1 cup water, sweetener of choice, and lemon zest in a 4-cup microwave-proof bowl or measuring cup. Microwave on high for 5 minutes. You will now have "simple syrup". Remove from microwave and let cool 10 minutes.

In 64-ounce container, combine lemon juice with syrup.

Add 2 liters of water, or to taste. Seltzer or sparkling water may be substituted for still water.

SONGS

Boom Boom Boom - John Lee Hooker

Hound Dog - Elvis Presley

Mustang Sally - Wilson Picket

Maybelline - Chuck Berry

Barely Legal - The Strokes

The Tide Is High - Blondie

All Star - Smash Mouth

Fly - Sugar Ray

Cannonball - The Breeders

Are You Gonna Be My Girl - JET

A-Punk - Vampire Weekend

Walkin' On the Sun - Smash Mouth

Smooth - Santana

Tequila - The Ventures

Bem, Bem Maria - Gipsy Kings

Posted by plumberry at 12:32 AM | Permalink

Happy Meal: Pony Express

Going out to dinner with children is hardly a relaxing activity, so more often than not, you end up at the drive-thru or on the phone with the pizza place. But as convenient as those are, you, oh Jessica Seinfeld devotee, are looking for something with more nutrition and less nitrates.

Pony Express To Go in Pleasantville is your answer. This healthy "fast-food" cafe offers a slew of good-for-you goodies like organic Dines hotdogs, hormone-free sliders, sweet potato fries cooked in oil without trans fats, real lobster and Peaky toe crab rolls and "Saddle Bag" salads of fresh greens with chicken breast, crispy whole shrimp or calamari served in an eco-friendly brown box. There's also a selection of natural fruit sodas made without corn syrup.

Seating is limited to a couple of tables and some bar stools so you are better off going when you can sit outside or getting take-out.

And that makes for happy meals all around.

Pony Express to Go,
30 Wheeler Avenue, Pleasantville
(914) 769-7669
www.ponyexpresstogo.com

Posted by plumberry at 01:05 PM | Permalink

Looking for Mr. Baked-Good: Bedford Post Inn

He was dashing in an Officer and a Gentleman; charming in the hooker-with-heart- of-gold blockbuster Pretty Woman, but what will really leave you Breathless are his eggs.

Richard Gere's restaurant, also known as The Bedford Post Inn, is uses a variety of farm-fresh ingredients to create clean seasonal American farm cuisine. Fans are flocking for such memorable dishes as the warm tart of fennel, endive & blue cheese with arugula salad; soft farm egg with creamy polenta; chorizo and marcona almond romesco; egg yolk ravioli with sheep's milk ricotta, spinach and sage crumbs; and roasted Chioggia beets with arugula, pistachios & mandarin yogurt.

The restaurant is as much a feast for the eyes as it is for the belly. Housed in a former barn, the décor is simple and clean: think Martha Stewart meets Restoration Hardware. The exposed beams, stone fireplace and butter-colored walls are drenched in sunlight from the glass French doors that open to a stone patio. While you are waiting for your table (and chances are you will wait), you can enjoy a cappuccino or freshly squeezed orange juice and salivate over the baked goods and cheeses artfully displayed on the counter of the semi-open kitchen.

Take heart, though, as you wait: Future plans are said to include another fine dining restaurant, an eight-suite inn, a yoga studio, horse stables and trails, which means you will finally have a proper place to put up those city friends who insist they are not driving all the way up here just to stay at the Holiday Inn.
Guess they are really Gere-ing up for big things.

The Bedford Post Inn
945 Old Post Road (Route 121)
Bedford Village
914-234-7800

Breakfast: 8 to 10:30am, Mon-Fri
Lunch: 11:30 to 2:30, Mon-Fri
Dinner: Two seatings at 6:30 & 8:30pm. four-course, $75, Thurs, Fri, Sat
Brunch: 8 to 3pm, Sat-Sun

Posted by plumberry at 02:20 PM | Permalink

Just like Mom Used to Make

Your friend just delivered her third baby. Another girl. How she tried for that boy! Oh well. Have you thought about the gift? With two older sisters, clothes are probably not high on the wish list. And does she need yet another baby blanket? What mom could really use, short of a week at Canyon Ranch or a tummy tuck, is someone to cook dinner for her and her family.

Order a week’s worth of fresh, delicious meals from Giona Global Cuisine to be delivered right to your friend’s doorstep. In addition to Giona’s signature soups, he offers a variety of delectable entrees and spa salads - perfect for the mom who is eager to return to pre-pregnancy jeans ASAP. Most of all, Giona gives new moms one less thing to worry about when they return from the hospital.

And that will beat a Marie Chantal onesie any day.

Giona Global Cuisine
914-462-1590
Giona.stanco@gmail.com
View a printable weekly menu!

Posted by plumberry at 02:16 AM | Permalink

Chicken, tonight?: Coq Au Vin from Ladle of Love

Every year, after the holiday feeding frenzy has come to a close, you vow not to let a single morsel of food pass your lips unless it is some Zone-worthy ingredient. No bread, no cookies no cakes, no fun (sigh). Well, if you are going to deprive yourself of carbs, you might as well make it as delicious as possible - compliments of Ladle of Love:

Coq Au Vin
2 lbs cubed chicken breasts
2 tablespoons olive oil
2 tablespoons all purpose flour
1 teaspoon kosher salt
¼ teaspoon freshly-ground black pepper
1 onion, diced
3 carrots, sliced
2 stalks celery, diced
1 pint sliced button mushrooms
2 tablespoons chopped, fresh parsley
2 cloves garlic, minced
1 28-oz can diced tomatoes
¼ - ½ cup dry white wine
3 cups chicken stock
1/4 tsp dried thyme
1 tsp fresh picked thyme

In a heavy stock pot, heat olive oil over med-high heat. Add chicken, flour, salt & pepper, and sauté until seared on all sides. Remove chicken from pan and set aside. Add a bit more olive oil to pan and then add onion, carrot, celery, garlic and dried thyme; sauté for 3-5 minutes, scraping up any brown bits at the bottom of pan. Add mushrooms and cook until liquid is rendered and they begin to brown. Add tomatoes, wine, stock and fresh thyme. Simmer until sauce thickens slightly. Return chicken to pot; cover and reduce heat to a simmer until chicken is cooked through, about 15 minutes. Add fresh parsley, and season to taste with salt and pepper.

Ladle of Love

11B South Moger Avenue

Mount Kisco

914-242-9661

www.ladleoflove.com

Posted by plumberry at 01:10 PM | Permalink

Sugar and Spice: Gingerbread-Chocolate Thumbprint Cookies

Holidays, you have found, are full of random associations. Take gingerbread, for example. Its scent triggers a rather Pavlovian response in your mammalian brain: when its aroma crosses your path, for reasons you're not quite certain, you feel compelled to hum Vince Guaraldi tunes and whisk your beloved to under the mistletoe. Being an otherwise rational person, you do not, however, feel compelled to begin gluing slabs of it together with royal icing to form a miniature replica of your home. (Such things really are better left to Food TV.) Here's a happy medium, especially if Mommy wants to be caught kissing Santa Claus :

Chocolate-Gingerbread Thumbprints
For Cookie Dough:
1 ¼ cups packed brown sugar
¾ cup heavy whipping cream
2/3 cup molasses
4 ¾ cups flour
1 Tablespoon baking soda
1 Tablespoon ground ginger
1 teaspoon nutmeg
½ teaspoon cloves

Filling:
1 cup semisweet chocolate chips
8 tablespoons (1 stick) butter, chilled

In a large bowl, whisk together sugar, cream and molasses. In a separate bowl, combine flour, baking soda and spices. Stir flour mixture into sugar-cream mixture in three additions. Turn dough out onto a floured surface and knead until dough is smooth. Wrap dough in plastic wrap and chill 4 hours or overnight.

Note: As the dough contains no eggs, food-safety restrictions on eating raw cookie dough are waived, and if you get no further than this step, what the heck.

To bake: Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Roll tablespoons of dough into balls and set 1 inch apart on a baking sheet. Press your thumb (or that of the nearest eager child) into the dough to create an indentation. Bake 8 minutes, repress any holes that need it, and bake for another 4 minutes. Remove cookies from baking sheet and let cool on a wire rack.

To fill: In a small sauce pan, melt chocolate over low heat (hint: use that low BTU "simmer" burner), then beat in butter one tablespoon at a time. Remove pan from heat. Fill each cookie's thumbprint with 1 teaspoon of chocolate mixture. Let cool to set, approximately as long as it takes you to drink an eggnog with bourbon.

Makes approximately 4 dozen, depending on how much dough is eaten prior to baking.

Happy holidays, and best wishes for a happy new year from Plumberry Jam!

Posted by plumberry at 01:01 PM | Permalink

Like Butter: Alexis's Famous Brisket Recipe

There's always that neighbor whose cooking you covet, whose holiday events you come to rely upon as substitutes for doing your own. Then she has the audacity to up and move to London, taking her signature brisket recipe with her. (The nerve of some people choosing their family's livelihood over feeding their friends.) Of course, there are those who were wise (or desperate) enough to snag it before she goes.

Happy Hanukkah from Plumberry Jam!

Alexis's Famous Brisket Recipe

1 5lb brisket

2 medium onions, diced

1 small bottle of ketchup

1/3 cup of strong black coffee

½ cup brown sugar

2 tablespoons Worcestershire sauce

2 tablespoons garlic powder

½ cup water

Preheat oven to 350 degrees F.

Place brisket in a large baking dish.

In a large mixing bowl, combine all other ingredients and mix thoroughly. Pour mixture over brisket, turning meat to coat. Cover baking dish with two to three layers of aluminum foil, sealing dish completely.

Cook for 3 ½ to 4 hours, or until brisket is tender. Remove dish from oven, uncover and let meat rest. Remove brisket from dish, and slice against the grain, about ¼ inch thick. Return sliced meat to dish with sauce, and reheat for 20 minutes before serving.

Brisket available at:

Chappaqua Village Market

12 King Street

Chappaqua, NY
238-4948

Posted by plumberry at 07:32 PM | Permalink

She Ate the Whole Thing!: Chappaqua Toffee

Here you are, staring at your computer, wondering how you are going to write about toffee you've never tasted. Not that the manufacturer of that toffee didn't send samples to your business partner, intending for them to be shared between her and you, but somehow, the samples never made it to you. It's rumored to have been about a half a pound, but of course, you can't ascertain that, because, as mentioned, the sample never got to you. Not one single crumble.

And now, you find yourself wondering how that toffee tasted. Must have been good. Your partner, who didn't have time to write up the review of the toffee, despite having eaten all of it -- in one sitting -- swears it was good. REALLY mouthwatering-can't-believe-how-good-good. Good enough to bogart the whole thing (even her husband or kids didn't get to taste any). So you're figuring you're gonna have to order some for yourself, and maybe a few people you know. But not your partner. Because fair's fair, after all.

Chappaqua Toffee Co.
$5.50 per ¼ pound
http://chappaquatoffee.com

Posted by plumberry at 02:09 PM | Permalink

If You Give a Mom a Cookie: The Pretty Cookie

If you give a mom a cookie, she will ask for a glass of milk.

When you give her a glass of milk, she will dunk another cookie into it.

When she's finished, she will vow never to cheat on her diet again.

Then, she will go to the gym.

At the gym, she will talk about how great those cookies were to her trainer.

The trainer will make her spend an extra twenty minutes on the treadmill.

After burning off the extra calories, she will be so exhausted that she will need to go home to take a nap.

At night, she won't be able to sleep because she napped during the day.

So, she will have to warm up some milk.

And chances are if she drinks a glass of milk,
she'll want a cookie to go with it.

Order almost too-pretty-to-eat-cookies from The Pretty Cookie company for holiday gifts, party favors, teachers gifts or just for yourself. You can customize the shape and color of the cookies which will run you between $2 and $3 each, depending on their size and intricacy.

The Pretty Cookie
Order online: zimbalistbianchi@aol.com
By phone: 914-325-0607

Posted by plumberry at 05:40 PM | Permalink

Hold the Marshmallows: Sweet Potato Muffins from Plates

As a youngster you looked forward to Thanksgiving not to hang with your cousins, not for the wishbone, not even for the pumpkin pie. No, what you craved most of all were mashed sweet potatoes with marshmallows. Really you were in it for the marshmallows, but you pretended to like the whole dish so that your mother would give you an extra large helping. Still, the anxiety of whether the marshmallow topping would make it out of the oven golden brown was almost too much to bear. Some years you were lucky. Others you would be stuck dusting off the charred black coating as you tried to salvage what was left of your Campfires.

This year, skip the marshmallows and serve up sweet potatoes in this simple one-bowl muffin recipe from Chef Matthew Karp of restaurant PLATES in Larchmont instead. Perfect as an accompaniment to your main meal or for breakfast in the morning. Enjoy it with a cup of hot cocoa -- with marshmallows, of course.

Sweet Potato Muffins

1 ¾ cup flour
1/3 cup sugar
2 tsp. baking powder
½ tsp. salt
1 tsp. cinnamon
½ tsp. nutmeg
¾ cup mashed yams
¾ cup maple syrup
2 eggs lightly beaten
¼ cup melted butter
¼ cup vegetable oil
2 tblsp. water
1 tsp. vanilla
½ cup chopped walnuts
½ cup raisins

Mix wet and dry ingredients separately then combine without over mixing.

Bake in muffin tins at 350 for 25 minutes.

PLATES
121 Myrtle Road
Larchmont, NY
914-834-1244
http://www.platesonthepark.com

Posted by plumberry at 01:19 PM | Permalink

Aside from All That: Roasted Brussel Sprouts from Ladle of Love

Every year, you imagine your inner Martha Stewart will make her appearance during Thanksgiving. Your table will be adorned with a crisp wrinkle-free cloth; a sparkling glass bowl heaped with gold-leafed pomegranates (hand-crafted by you, of course) will sit in the center. Your turkey will come out looking ready for the cover of Bon Appetit and taste just as good. Your pumpkin pie, effortlessly baked from scratch just a couple of hours ago, will perfume the air with the delicious scent of nutmeg.

And your side dishes. (Hear sound of record scratching). They get you every time; even in your dreams, you end up with steamed broccoli and cranberry sauce. No more! This super easy recipe, from delicious Ladle of Love in Mt. Kisco will be a proud addition to any Thanksgiving meal -- even if you wind up buying everything else.

Roasted Brussels Sprouts

Ingredients:
2 pounds Brussels sprouts
4 tablespoons olive oil
1 teaspoon kosher salt
1/2 teaspoon freshly ground black pepper

Preheat oven to 400 degrees F.
Slice off the tough root ends of the Brussels sprouts and cut them in half. In a mixing bowl, toss the Brussels sprouts with the olive oil, salt and pepper. Pour them onto a sheet pan and roast for 35 to 40 minutes, stirring every 15 minutes, until lightly browned and crispy. Sprinkle with more kosher salt to taste and serve immediately.
Make your life even easier by ordering prepared side dishes off of Ladle of Love's Thanksgiving menu.

Ladle of Love
11b S Moger Ave
Mount Kisco
914-242-9661
www.ladleoflove.com

Posted by plumberry at 01:27 PM | Permalink

Bite This: Where to Eat Now

Great Googly-moogly! It seems like the gentle readers of Plumberry Jam are simply withering away, not from their low-fat/low-carb/juice-only diets, but because no one can figure out where to get a "decent" meal.

In this installment, we'll cover where to find such a repast when dining en famille.

Lexington Square Café. Solid and convivial, if not overly daring in the culinary department, this is the choice for those "I am SO not cooking tonight" nights. Those with younger children can rest assured that the "kid-friendliness" of their wait-staff has been throughly tested (you don't want to know the details, trust us) by our Junior Jamsters; parents of tweens and teens will find the atmosphere and menu relaxed enough to not worry about their posture, food choices or attitudes, but happily "connect-the-dot" placemat free, so they'll feel like you're letting them into the grown-up club. 510 Lexington Avenue, Mount Kisco; 244-3663.

Haiku Asian Bistro & Sushi Bar. Probably the best sushi in the area, with a killer sake martini, to boot (he's driving home, right?). Asian chic atmosphere (love the rock waterfall wall behind the sushi bar) makes you feel like you're out for a real night on the town, but the other pre-8pm tables filled with families will keep you from stressing out about chopstick mishaps. Plenty of cooked food - including inspired pan-Asian specials --for those who aren't in the mood for a plate of raw fish. 1 Cross River Shopping Center, Cross River; 763-9120.

The Blazer Pub. Sometimes you just want to hit a good ole joint, fuss-free and fun. Area old-timers will look at you with amazement when you casually drop that you went here on Friday night - it's a best-kept secret of the area. Not for the vegetarian or white-meat-only crowd - there's pretty much just burgers, and burgers, and, well, burgers, on the menu, but done spectacularly well. Please don't think about what the fried onions will do to your cholesterol count; just enjoy them. Route 22, Purdy's; 277-4424.

Southbound Bar-B-Que. Okay, so they do have connect-the-dot placemats for the kids, or at least Wiki Sticks, and an actual "Kids Menu," but the finger-licking-good ribs, chicken, pulled pork and brisket make up for it. And there's something kind-of-fun about seeing your whole family's faces smeared with sauce, especially when you don't have to clean up the tablecloth afterwards. 301 Columbus Avenue, Valhalla; 644-7247.

Bring us home a doggie-bag, will ya?

Posted by plumberry at 01:35 PM | Permalink

Seedy Proposition

Plumberry Jam Roasted Pumpkin Seeds

Gut and carve pumpkin, preferably without having a meltdown in front of your children or, more likely, your significant other who insists that using your new Shun Kaji Santuko knife to carve the pumpkin would be more effective than employing the plastic, (relatively) child-safe Pumpkin Masters implements you bought for the task.

Clean all goop from pumpkin seeds while keeping your children from throwing said goop at each other, or, again, more likely, while restraining yourself from throwing it at the Santuko-suggestor.

Prepare a round of Autumn Moon cocktails (see below for recipe); Preheat oven to 425 degrees.

Spread clean pumpkin seeds on a parchment-paper lined baking sheet. Spray seeds with supposedly calorie-free cooking spray, preferably canola. Toss to coat and apply more spray (it's calorie-free, right?).

Grind sea salt over seeds.

Place in preheated oven. Bake for 20 -25 minutes or until seeds are golden brown.

Serve roasted seeds to children; serve cocktails to self and Santuko Man.

Optional: Open candy bags bought for Halloween, with the knowledge that you can get more tomorrow.

Autumn Moon Cocktail
from Pour Café & Wine Bar
4 pitted Bing cherries
1/2 ounce of simple syrup (To make syrup: combine ½ cup white sugar and ½ cup water in a saucepan. Bring to a boil and stir until the sugar has dissolved. Cool before using.)
3 ounces Merlot
1 1/2 ounce Bourbon
1 wheel slice of lemon
Fresh nutmeg to grind

In a 16-ounce mixing glass, muddle the cherries (if not pitted, just remove pits after muddling).

Add simple syrup, merlot, bourbon and lemon slice. Top with ice to 2/3 full and shake lightly.

Pour the ingredients into a tall glass.

Top with grated nutmeg and enjoy!

Pour Wine Bar & Café
241 Main Street
Mount Kisco, NY

www.pourmtkisco.com

Posted by plumberry at 01:43 AM | Permalink

Off the Hook: Mount Kisco Seafood

The history of your appreciation of seafood goes something like this: Begrudgingly eat the Mrs. Paul’s fishsticks your mother serves (c. 1975). Believe that ordering shrimp cocktail shows off your “adult-like” sophistication (c. 1985). Discover sushi and pretend to like it (c.1989). Actually enjoy eating sushi (c. 1990). Dine at Le Bernadine for the first time (c. 1994). Shop regularly at Citarella’s (c. 1998). Dine at Le Bernadine for the 29^th time (c. 2005).

And now here you are (c. 2007), buying frozen bagged shrimp and canned tuna at the supermarket. Helllloooo!

Swim back upstream to the Mount Kisco Seafood, where Joe DiMauro and his crew offer up a range of finned, scaled and shelled varieties that will impress even the saltiest of dogs. While you’re there, DiMauro makes it easy to round out your dinner menu (or stock the pantry shelves) with products from many local purveyors, including fresh eggs from Daisy Hill Farm (Bedford Corners), organic produce from Cabbage Hill Farm (Mount Kisco), Suzanne’s Sweets Rugelach (Armonk), Killer Bee Honey (Bedford Corners).

At loss at how to put it all together? Just ask one of the guys at the counter how to prepare your catch of the day. Which always beats reading the back of a package.

Mount Kisco Seafood
477 Lexington Avenue
Mount Kisco, NY
241-3113

Posted by plumberry at 02:07 AM | Permalink

What's For Dinner

Life used to be so simple in the city. You went to a restaurant, fell in love with your entree, grabbed the delivery menu on the way out and ordered in the same dish at home the very next night.

You don't have it so easy anymore now that you're housebound. Gone are the "We Deliver" days. Now you have to resort to take-out or, gulp! actual cooking. On the bright side, you do have a bigger kitchen. Put it to good use by making Spinach & Ricotta Rotolinis, courtesy of Grappolo Locanda in Chappaqua. Though this delicious signature dish isn't low in Weight Watcher points, it's well worth the calories:

Rotolini di Spinaci
(Spinach & Ricotta pasta rolls)
Serves 8

BASIL SAUCE
½ cup finely chopped fresh basil
6 tablespoons unsalted butter
4 tablespoons flour
4 cups whole milk, heated to boiling
1/8 teaspoon freshly grated nutmeg
Salt and pepper, to taste

In a heavy-based saucepan, melt the butter. Stir in the flour and cook over medium-low heat, stirring constantly, for 2 minutes.

Slowly beat in the milk, nutmeg, basil, salt, and pepper, stirring constantly to prevent lumps from forming. Bring the mixture to a simmer and let the sauce cook for 10 minutes, stirring often.

Remove the sauce from the heat and press a piece of plastic wrap onto the surface to prevent a skin from forming. Leave to cool.

Note: You can refrigerate the white sauce for up to 3 days at this point.

FILLING
1/2 pound baby spinach, stems removed, well rinsed Salt & pepper, to taste
1 pound ricotta cheese
2 cups grated Parmesan cheese
4 egg yolks

Put the wet spinach into a large saucepan and add a pinch of salt. Cover and set over medium heat, shaking the pan constantly for 2 minutes or until the spinach wilts.

Drain the spinach into a colander and rinse with cold water. With your hands, squeeze the excess liquid from the greens.

On a cutting board, coarsely chop the cooked leaves.

In a bowl, combine the ricotta, Parmesan, egg yolks, spinach, salt, and pepper.

PASTA
Salt, to taste
1/2 pound fresh pasta sheets Olive oil (for the dish)
1/2 cup grated Parmesan cheese (for sprinkling)

Bring a large pot of salted water to a boil. Have on hand a large bowl of ice water.

Cut the pasta sheets into 6-by-6-inch squares. Working in batches, drop several pieces of pasta into the boiling water and cook for 1 to 2 minutes or until they are cooked but still have some bite. With a large slotted spoon, transfer the pasta to the ice water. Continue with the remaining sheets.

Set the oven at 400 degrees. Lightly oil a 9-by-13-inch baking dish. Spread some of the sauce in the dish.

Set a square of pasta on the counter. Pat it dry with paper towels. Spoon 3 tablespoons of the cheese mixture along the dough. Roll up the dough tightly and cut into 1.5" pieces, then place in dish standing upright. Repeat with the remaining pasta and remaining cheese.

Spoon the remaining sauce on the rolls and sprinkle with Parmesan cheese.

Bake the pasta for 30 minutes or until the top is golden and the sauce is bubbling. Serve at once.

Use red sauce to garnish individual rolls.

USING DRIED PASTA
You can substitute dried lasagna sheets for the fresh pasta, though your rolls will be smaller. Cook the lasagna noodles according to package directions (we find that even no-boil pasta needs to be cooked for 1 minute before using). Transfer the noodles to ice water, then pat dry with paper towels. Cut the noodles in half before rolling with filling.

RED SAUCE
3 tablespoons extra virgin olive oil
1 clove garlic, finely chopped
1 cans (28 ounces each) imported whole tomatoes with their juices
Handful fresh basil leaves, stemmed and coarsely chopped
Salt and pepper, to taste

In a saucepan, melt the butter. Add the garlic and cook, stirring, for 1 minute.

Tip the tomatoes into a bowl and, with your hands, crush them. Transfer the tomatoes and their juices to the saucepan. Stir in the oregano, basil, salt, and pepper.

Cook the tomato mixture for 25 minutes. Set the sauce aside until ready to use.

Note: You can refrigerate the red sauce for up to 3 days at this point.

Posted by plumberry at 02:19 PM | Permalink

Cone Heads

What would summer be without at least one (or 20) trips to the ice cream parlor? And if you’re hankering for something that doesn’t involve a 20-minute wait for mix-ins, or for flavors that you can’t get in a supermarket, here are two to try.

Take an evening ride up to Katonah, where tucked on a side street, you’ll find Scoops, whose funky flavors include Piece of Cake, Crazy Cup Caramel, Nutty Business and Cotton Candy (sure to delight those kids who demand their ice cream be neon shades). The less adventurous can, of course indulge in old standards as well. Take your cups and cones and enjoy a stroll up and down the main drag of Katonah, where you can window shop while the kids drip without a worry of it staining the car carpet.

For made-on-the-spot delights, hit La Tulipe in Mount Kisco. This long-standing elegant French patisserie has recently added their own sorbettos (try the blood orange) and gelatos. La Tulipe has expanded their hours to remain open until 9pm, perfect for the post-dinner crowd. While there’s little in the way of shopping in the area, you can enjoy a scoop or two at one of their outdoor café tables while you wait for your boys to finish batting practice at Pro Swing across the street.

Scoops
28 Valley Road
Katonah, NY
914-767-3770

La Tulipe
455 Lexington Avenue
Mount Kisco
914-242-2555

Posted by plumberry at 06:50 PM | Permalink

Mix It Up: Q Mojito

On Mother's Day, you got treated to a frilly brunch with fruity mimosas, delicate caviar canapés and a complimentary rose. For Dads, it's all about fat steaks on the barbecue, fat cigars on the links, and fat -- er, ahem -- lazing in front of the TV, as the cards in the Father's Day aisle will tell you.

You'll go with the barbecue.

While you're grilling fireside, serve him (and yourself) a festive drink from Q Authentic Barbecue Restaurant and Bar. Just don't let the delicious taste fool you. Pace yourself or you'll wind up with another name to sign on next year's Father's Day card.

Q Mojito
A traditional mojito is made with lime juice. Q uses lemon.

6 mint leaves
4 tsp sugar
Club soda
Crushed ice
½ oz rum (Q likes 10 Cane Rum)
2 ¼ oz lemon juice (freshly squeezed)

For garnish:
1 lemon wedge for garnish
Sugar cane (available at specialty markets)

Combine the mint leaves, sugar and a splash of club soda in a rocks glass. Fill the glass with crushed ice. Add the rum, lemon juice, another splash of club soda and mix. Add the sugar cane and lemon wedge for garnish.

Serves 1

Q Authentic Barbeque Restaurant & Bar
112 N. Main Street (Westchester Avenue)
Port Chester, NY 10537
914-933-7427

Posted by plumberry at 01:31 PM | Permalink

Farm Aid: Organic CSA

Sick of your city-dwelling friends crowing about their Fresh Direct deliveries? One up them by bragging about how you get your own produce delivered fresh, direct from the farm.

Ryder Farm of Brewster, New York, is now offering half and full shares of their organic crops to be delivered weekly to one member's home in Mt. Kisco for you to retrieve. (And you thought your share days were over when you stopped renting in the Hamptons.) Among the thirty-plus garden variety goodies are beans, arugula, broccoli, lettuce, kale, peppers, herbs and tomatoes. Because the harvests vary from week to week, you never know what you are going to get. It could be Bok Choy and carrots one week, spinach and cabbage the next.

So as long as the kids are in the mood for lots of Asian cole slaw, you're golden.

Ryder Farm
Half Share: $380
Full Share: $550
20 week season begins June 14th

404 Starr Ridge Road
Brewster, New York
845-279-3984
Register online at: www.ryderfarmcsa.org
Or for questions, email hallgibson@prodigy.net

Posted by plumberry at 01:08 PM | Permalink

Nut-tin' to Worry About: Divvie's

Let others debate why so many kids have allergies these days; all you know is that your kid/his best friend/the little girl he has a crush on is stuck gnawing on cardboard-like "safe food" while the rest of kids in the class chomp down on birthday cupcakes and festive cookies. And while you have no wish to see the Epi-Pen come out, you would like to let them indulge in a real treat at the end-of-school parties.

To the rescue: Divvies of South Salem, which bakes up allergen-free (no peanuts, tree nuts, eggs or milk) delights that are too good not to share. Founded by Lori and Mark Sandler after their own son, Benjamin, was diagnosed with severe allergies, Divvies' offerings include whimsically decorated cupcakes; scrumptious cookies (chocolate chip, molasses ginger, oatmeal chocolate chip or oatmeal raisin); and gourmet popcorn (caramel and kettle corn; in the winter, chocolate-caramel is also available). You can find allergen-free candy to put in the goody bags. And as for the folks debating why so many kids have allergies, Divvies even helps with that: a portion of their proceeds on their gift boxes goes to the Food Allergy Initiative, an organization dedicated to food allergy research.

And while they're worth the trip to South Salem, you can save yourself the drive -- they even deliver.

Divvies

240 Oakridge Common

South Salem, NY

914-533-0333

www.divvies.com

Please note: Decorated cupcakes are only available for in-store pick-up.

Posted by plumberry at 08:32 AM | Permalink

October 02, 2009

You Can Take the Girl Out of the City; Cravings Eats & Treats, Briarcliff Manor

September 21, 2009

Take the Cake

August 10, 2009

See Food: The Boathouse

June 01, 2009

Play Ball!

May 27, 2009

Super Fresh

March 30, 2009

A Tisket, a Tasket...

March 19, 2009

Girl with Pearl Earring and Apple Fritter

March 13, 2009

No Reservations

March 09, 2009

Dining Out on a Dime

March 06, 2009

Cupcake Cafe

February 27, 2009

Good Catch

February 22, 2009

Pancake Day

February 09, 2009

Piece of Cake

January 30, 2009

Let Them Eat Cupcakes

December 19, 2008

Matzo Ball Soup for the Soul

August 27, 2008

Summer's End

August 19, 2008

When Pigs Fly: Via Vanti

August 12, 2008

Slice of Life: Watermelon Salad

August 11, 2008

Cookie Dough: Art Girl Cookies

August 06, 2008

Beach Eating: Grilled Veggie Sandwiches

July 28, 2008

Aren't You Picky?: Amawalk Farms

July 23, 2008

Pound Foolish, Berry Wise: Blueberry Pound Cake

July 16, 2008

Koo For You: Spoon Asian Fusion Restuarant

May 30, 2008

The Local-voire's Handbook

May 21, 2008

The Backyard Vacation

May 05, 2008

Happy Meal: Pony Express

April 23, 2008

Looking for Mr. Baked-Good: Bedford Post Inn

January 14, 2008

Just like Mom Used to Make

January 04, 2008

Chicken, tonight?: Coq Au Vin from Ladle of Love

December 21, 2007

Sugar and Spice: Gingerbread-Chocolate Thumbprint Cookies

December 05, 2007

Like Butter: Alexis's Famous Brisket Recipe

She Ate the Whole Thing!: Chappaqua Toffee

November 20, 2007

If You Give a Mom a Cookie: The Pretty Cookie

November 19, 2007

Hold the Marshmallows: Sweet Potato Muffins from Plates

November 17, 2007

Aside from All That: Roasted Brussel Sprouts from Ladle of Love

November 09, 2007

Bite This: Where to Eat Now

October 29, 2007

Seedy Proposition

August 01, 2007

Off the Hook: Mount Kisco Seafood

July 31, 2007

What's For Dinner

July 20, 2007

Cone Heads

June 13, 2007