Food Truck Festival Coming to Troy!

I remember hearing about this on twitter, but after seeing a blurb about it on All Over Albany it's official - Troy is going to have a food truck festival. Now they're toting it as the first ever food truck festival in New York.

That's not entirely true.

Back in 2010 M and I went to the Vendy Awards on Governors Island, which was food truck festival of sorts... and a spattering of food carts. Okay, so not a straight up food truck festival. The Troy event can have the moniker of first ever.

Nitpickiness aside, I am pumped for this. The festival will be on May 4th, so not too far away. You can't bring your alcoholic beverages, but you'll be able to buy some there with a magical five dollar beer token. And apparently coolers, pets, skateboards, and bikes are forbidden as well. I hope the city considers possibly placing a bunch of bike racks outside the perimeter of the festival for us peddlers.

Here's the current list of trucks participating:

• Wandering Dago
• Pies on Wheels
• Aegean Greek
• Good Eats
• Slidin Dirty
• The Spud Shack
• Gwenies Breakfast Wagon
• Fast Trax
• Bootleggers
• Sweet Temptations
• Kona Ice
• Fitsy's Fork in the Road

Check out the website for more details.

Things To Do: Capital Region Jewish Food Festival

It’s looking like one of those spring days when you want to get out of the house and do something. And if you need some help with figuring out what to do, why not check out the Jewish food festival? There will be cooking demonstrations, plenty of food samples, and you’ll get to meet two local bloggers (Daniel B. - Fussy Little Blog; and Leah – Noshing Confessions)

Here’s the press release:

MEDIA ADVISORY

 
CELEBRATE JEWISH FOOD AND CULTURE
AT CAPITAL REGION JEWISH FOOD FESTIVAL

Schedule of events:   

12:30      Cooking Demonstration: Chef Gail Sokol will teach how to make Passover sponge cake
 
1:15        Cooking Demonstration: Identical twins Pam Wright and Sue Kimball (the cooking teacher at Congregation Gates of Heaven) will demonstrate how to make blintzes 
 
2:00        Meet the Editor and Sample Recipes: Joanne Caras, editor of the Holocaust Survivor Cookbook 
 
3:00        Cooking Demonstration: Chef Gail Sokol will share her healthy danish pastry recipe  
 
Additional festival highlights include: unlimited samples of traditional and modern gourmet foods (kosher style) prepared by area restaurants, caterers and synagogue members; live Klezmer music by the Kol Simcha Orchestra; meet and greet with local food bloggers, Daniel B. of the Fussy Little Blog and Leah of Noshing Confessions

Samples will include: hot pastrami sandwiches from Ben & Bill’s Deli, blintz soufflé from Gershon’s Deli, delectable dishes from the Glen Sanders Mansion, gourmet cheeses from the Honest Weight Food Co-op, Teriyaki Chicken Skewers from Old Daley Inn Catering, melt-in-your-mouth whitefish salad from Saati’s Catering, Falafel in pita from Phoenician’s, NYC-style bagel, bialys & lox, homemade chicken matzo ball soup, fresh-baked rugelach and knishes, kosher hot dogs, beef brisket, and so much more…
 
WHEN:              Sunday, April 3    Noon – 4:00 p.m.
WHERE:           Congregation Gates of Heaven   852 Ashmore Ave.
                         Schenectady, NY
 
FOR MORE INFORMATION CONTACT MINDY HOLLAND OR SUE KIMBALL AT CONGREGATION GATES OF HEAVEN AT 518-374-8173

2010 Vendy Awards

This originally was going to be quite a lengthy post.

But I kept putting it off, and here were are, more than a week later and the post is still in my drafts pile. That changes today.

Instead of the lengthy typed post, detailing the sights, sounds, smells, etc… you get videos:

Vendy Awards 2010 from Under the Copper Tree on Vimeo.

Vendy Awards from Under the Copper Tree on Vimeo.

There are better pictures out there of the event, and no doubt some excellent write ups on it. It was fun, I enjoyed myself… but I was more excited just being back on Governors Island. I lived there for a time growing up, so it holds a special place in my heart. It’s sad to see it’s not the same as I remember it, but glad that it’s being used.

Feast of St. Anthony

Feast of St. Anthony from Under the Copper Tree on Vimeo.

The weather held up for the most part yesterday so this could go on. There were games and bouncy castles for the kids, music and dance for the adults, and food for them all. There was food representing the different ethnic groups that go to St. Anthony's.

This is some of the video that my dad took. There's a glimpse of me at some point, and you can hear me talking to him at the end. The best part is the conversation my dad has with one of the volunteers. It's in tagalog, so let me translate as best I can:

Guy - There's a line for the Filipino, but not the others

Dad - I know!

Guy - Why is that?

Dad - Our food tastes good.

I didn't get any Filipino food. I went and tried some Indian, Haitian, and Polish food. They were all very tasty, especially the Polish sauerkraut and kielbasa. So Good.