Slushies and 99 cent Pizza

For some reason I cannot rotate this picture. The problem with stealthily writing at work. Anyways, the plan yesterday was to grab some sushi with my cousin after a gym session. As with most plans with her go, they fell through and I was left with the option of eating solo.

I tend to do that a lot. Don't really mind it, but sometimes conversations while eating are nice.

I was going to get sushi. Really was. But then I had to fill up the car and it just so happens there is a Cumberland Farms by the gym. So here I am, post-workout... exhausted and gym messy. The water I had been guzzling was not cutting it.

Screw it. Slushies all around! And while I was there, I spied their 99 cent cheese pizza slices. How could I possibly pass it up?

I quickly ate that slice in my car so no one knew what I just did. Meh. Tastes like gas station pizza. I suppose I should try the Stewarts pizza and see how they compare.

CSA Preview

I really wanted to do a community garden again this year. Really did. But last's years run in with veggie looters swayed me against it. That and the plot I had was far from my house. There are places here, but... I have my reasons. Maybe next year.

This year though, I decided to go the CSA route. There are plenty out there for you to choose from, and may still have shares available. I signed up with the Patroon Land Farm CSA, and based on the website you can still sign up with them. The main reason I chose this CSA over other more popular ones is that they supply fresh produce to the Regional Food Bank for Northeastern New York. I get fresh local fruits and vegetables and so do others who are less fortunate than I am. it's a win-win.

I have been patiently waiting and finally the day has arrived! Tomorrow after work I will be going to my pick up site and picking up my first share of the season. And in writing this, I must remember to bring a couple of bags with me so I can just leave the box there for them to re-use for a future delivery.

This is what we're getting this week:

• Broccoli
• Chard
• Cilantro
• Garlic Scapes
• Lettuce
• Summer Squash

I can picture it now - garlic scape pesto; grilled squash; lettuce wraps; stuffed chard; roasted broccoli; brown rice salad with cilantro. Now I'm starving!

Family shares are $420 and should be enough for 3-4 people; individual shares are $260 and should be good for 1-2 people. I also signed up for a fruit share which I'll get with my delivery on the 23rd.

I'll take pictures tomorrow so you can see the good stuff.

Adventures on Two Wheels: Schenectady to Rotterdam Junction

No pictures yet again.

After my final (which I passed, thankyouverymuch) I drove over to the far side of the school's parking lot and hit up the Mohawk Hudson Bikeway, a trail that runs alongside the Mohawk River. My final took much longer than I thought it would and by the time I got out, it was pretty overcast. Wasn't sure if it would rain, but I was determined to get a ride in.

The trail starts along the river and stays along the river for the most part. Mostly flat, with just small hills. Nothing to worry about though - you see them coming and nothing a couple of quick pedals won't tackle.

I had sunglasses on, but I think one of those neck things would be good to protect from the gnats, which I kept flying into. I did get a bug in the eye... nasty. There might still be some bug in there.

I biked down to about Rotterdam Junction, just before the path is cut by an active railroad line. The path starts up again, maybe a quarter of the mile down, but you have to get onto the road to access it. Hopefully they finish that small part and make it bike accessible. I'm pretty sure this is how they go on the Erie Canal Bicycle Tour, something I've been meaning to do for years.

One of these days.

Keeping With the Trends

The warmer temps have everyone going iced coffee crazy. Well, include me in that bunch as I am enjoying an extra large helping. I've written about it before, so I won't say too much other than I am putting my percolator aside for the French press. I've used the other method, mixing the coffee grounds and water in a pot and setting aside, but that is more mess than my small, mid-renovation kitchen can handle at the moment. 

Because of the finer grind, I only let this sit for about eight hours. To ensure the brew would be grit free,  I poured it through a small cone filter I bought earlier this year (I can't recall why I purchased it, but it was most likely for this reason!)

Sure, I could have used my Fairway coffee, but this Seattle's best has been taking up space for too long... I would rather use it up this way. It's slightly bitter, but has nice chocolate notes. Or I may still be tasting the chocolate I ate earlier.

Either way, this won't last long in the house. Guess I'll have to make more!

Kay’s Pizza (Burden Lake, NY)

Now it may be a bit presumptuous, but I have had the unofficial official best pizza of the summer. If there was a tournament for seasonal pizza, this would take the cake. If it were running for office, I would sign up and volunteer… you get my point. I like their pizza.

And all it took was a holiday to finally get me to try it.

If you grew up around here, then surely you heard about Kay’s. Heck, you may have even gone there for dinner after a long day at the lake! I only learned of it’s existence when a former co-worker had mentioned they were open for the season. I added that to my “places to check out” list and promptly forgot about it. Until one of M’s co-workers had brought up Kay’s with him, and insisted we try their pizza. We had to stay local for the 4th, all the more reason to make a trip out to Burden Lake.

And when I say trip, it is a trip. Driving out there seemed to take forever, and the hills and bends in the road were making the car ride not pleasant. You’ll want to keep a sharp eye out for the signs – there were a few that were hidden behind branches. Going back, the ride seemed like nothing… so who knows? Maybe or next trip back will be quicker.

Kay’s has been around since the late 1950’s, and before that was a hotel. Control of the restaurant has changed hands over the years, and in 2004 the building underwent a renovation. There’s the main dining area where we were seated, and in the next room is the bar with a dining area, and a very small game area. All the take out was done at the bar, and it was a pretty regular scene of seeing people walk out the screen doors with a stack of pizza boxes. The main dining area has plenty of windows, which were all open to allow the breezes off the lake to come in and help circulate the air. Unfortunately, the humidity on the 4th was oppressive and no amount of winds off the lake was helping correct that.

We ordered a pitcher of Sierra Nevada IPA. I am slowly working my way back to liking IPAs. You can order full and half-pitchers, which we found out only after our pitcher was brought to the table. And it’s not like we could send it back and ask for the half. Where would that beer go? Beer abuse!

Maybe it’s just me, but whenever I’m near a body of water I am so inclined to have seafood. Even if that said body of water most likely does not contain the seafood I consume. It must be something about the presence of a shoreline; the breezes that come off the water, that pulls at my seafood-y heart strings. Also, I noticed a few tables had ordered the steam clams and I got suckered in.

A dozen Rhode Island Little Necks cost about eight dollars and comes with melted butter. Melted salted butter. The clams didn’t seem too overcooked, and were delicious. Did not receive a full dozen clams, as you can see the one on the right was just filled with broken shells and sand and dirt. Boo.
 

Ordered some breadsticks, but forgot to ask for extra sauce. They just don’t give you enough, especially  if you’re one who likes an even distribution of sauce to bread. M and I quickly scarfed these down.

Finally, the main reason why we made the drive there – pizza. There are two sizes, a twelve inch medium (8 cut) and a fourteen inch large (12 cut). The dough is made in house and is rolled out by hand. Their sauce, which according to their menu they are famous for, has some substance to it and seasoned perfectly. No cheese blends here, just straight up mozzarella. And they don’t skimp out on the cheese, you get a very generous portion. 

Here’s what I liked the best – my first bite had crunch. Even with all that sauce and cheese, the center of the pie wasn’t soggy. I wonder if the trays they serve their pizzas on have anything to do with keeping the center crispy. I’d like to think they do.
  

Kay’s was voted best pizza in this year’s Times Union Best of the Capital Region poll. And I see why – I loved that pizza. So much so that I kept telling people about my pizza for a few days after. Mind you we just ordered a regular cheese, so I can’t vouch for their toppings or specialty pies… not to mention the rest of their menu. But it gives me an excuse to go back and try them out. 

Kay’s Pizza
10 Walsh Lane
Averill Park, NY 12018
(518) 674-5413

Open Monday – Thursday 4:00-10:00
Friday – Saturday 4:00-11:00
Sunday 3:00-9:00

Credit cards accepted

Winner, Winner… All Good Bakers NY Farm to Chef Summer Dinner

As is ritual now, my morning break consists of me on my phone scrolling through facebook and twitter updates. And Wednesday was more of the same, scanning through the posts, glossing over tweets when I just happened to see one that Professor Fussy posted about an open seat for the first dinner. I figured I would give it a shot and posted a comment. Didn’t really think much would come from it, so I dove back into work. Two o’clock rolled around and hello! An email informing me that I won. And not just an email, but also a message waiting for me on facebook to get to it and confirm my spot.

I won?

I won!!

Like Father, Like Son

My grandfather recently celebrated a birthday. He's eighty-five now, if you were curious. And it seems fitting that both he and my grandmother are allowed to retire from their familial duties - being the main cooks at parties. 

They'll still do it, of course. But not as much as they used to. The past few years has seen a changing of  the guard. Everyone in the family cooks, but one has stood out and is turning into the head cook - Uncle E. He does the grilling, he cooks up huge pots of afritada, caldareta, and when my dad wasn't able to, took over the role of dinuguan maker. Even his wife, Aunt A pitches in and makes Filipino spaghetti, pasta salads, and a huge jug of sago at gulaman. A new cooking dynasty in the works.

That's not to say everyone else will stop cooking. Everyone has their specialty, but you can pretty much count on Uncle E to whip up a whole lot of good things.

And of course, I retain my role as quality control. Got to make sure the food is up to our high family standards. And it is in no means my way of getting first dibs on eating. Quality control... I swear. 

Pre-Game Porkiness

We were doing the rounds of the group sites when I wandered over to the food trailer. The Lapeer Area Brewers (LAB) were the ones taking care of the food that was to be sold for Saturday. I didn't notice it at all earlier in the day, but the smells were fantastic. They did all their prep work by flashlight.

What You Wouldn't Expect

Yeah, so I'm at a homebrew festival. People here are all about their beer. And I like beer, I do.

Really.

But I'm just not in the mood for it. Crazy, right?

M picked this up and some other things for me at the gas station down the road from the campgrounds. And even then it took me a while to open it up.

Not really a camping girl.

It Appears We Have a Guest!

M was moving the squash back into the garden bed when something large and cold stumbled onto his bare foot. He screamed like a little girl and backed away. He looked down, and hello! our new little friend.

I've never seen a toad before, not up close anyways. I don't know what he was doing in our garden, but I'm guessing he was enjoying the bugs. If that is the case, I thank you dear toad. And now I'll make sure to wear gardening gloves.

Don't want toad cooties.

Breakfasting on Wheels

I was on a good streak there, exercising. But a majority of the summer I've been busy until the late evening so working out just had to wait. Then came that nasty humid weather, or the downpours on the weekends that got in the way of healthy activities.

But I did it. I got back on the bike and enjoyed the nice weather. I really wanted to bike out to Rotterdam, but I ran out of time. Settled on twenty miles. A good number and I got to do some uphill work - and failed.

Must say I really like the crunchy peanut butter Clif bar. Going to have to remember to buy more of those.

Ancient Gardening Secret

My plants were doing fine, but I just wanted to give it a little kick. Saw this at Wally's, and dropped the ten bucks they were asking for. I think it's working, since the little garden I had is now a bit of a jungle. A very edible jungle, I might add.

Hot Soup on a Hot Day

Beans, grains, and tomatoes. Yes, something cool would be good, but I had a craving for the hot. Cumin, chili powder... awesome.

Waiting For The Show

I was waiting around for the pool to open up so I took a walk around Cohoes. Not that long of a walk - really just went around a block. But there was enough in that one block that has me wanting to go back with my camera and appetite. Hit up the Bicycle Barn which didn't have what I was looking for (rats); checked out the market across the street (and it really is what I picture a small urban-ish market to be); and looked up the hours of the diner (which I will eat at eventually).

There's a little park, which I guess is called Canal Square. If the sign isn't a giveaway... well, whatever. Anyways, I was looking at the list of bands when I saw the hot dog cart. A hot dog cart! In Cohoes! I don't know about you, but it just seemed out of place. But it was tempting. And it was a buck, so I caved.

Had a quick chat with the lady running the cart and she told me how her and her husband would work the square and the pool, but for health reasons gave up the pool and just work the Friday shows. She also let me know that they won't be selling next week because they're going to do some Indian Powwow. Then she joked that she might have a hot dog too... before she gets hot dogged out.

Ice Cold Tofu

Here's the thing with posting pictures from my phone via email - I can send a picture and give the post a title, but I can't put content. So that means having to pull it up on my computer/tablet and working on it... when I get the chance to do so. And lately that has been a trickle.

But comments help. And Jon, thanks to your comment, here's the update.

Not too long ago, tofu was on sale at Chopper. Two for four, something along those lines, so I grabbed a bunch. This is the silken tofu, which I have only seen used for this. You can cut it up to look pretty, or you can be in nom nom mode and just cut it loose from its container and plop it on a plate. A splash of soy sauce, a little dribble of sesame seed oil, and a grind of pepper and you are set. This was M's vegetarian version, to mine I added some minced scallion and a generous helping of bonito flakes. 

Extremely easy to make, and perhaps the perfect snack when the weather is like this.

Go. Try it. You can thank me later.

Hang On...

The holiday is almost up. The fireworks should be done, for the most part. Plants and pets, time to go back to normal.

This is bittermelon, by the way. My dad grew them from seed and gave me one to grow in my crowded garden. Which reminds me, I still have yet to post anything about it. Damn this having a life away from the internets!

Fruits of Labor

Prepared

Before Irene visited the rest of New York, M and I made sure to bring in most of the potted plants. We weren’t sure how bad the winds would get, but I didn’t want them flying about. So they hung out in the sun room and kitchen. They’re back outside now, but it has me seriously considering collecting some herbs to grow indoors.

Lanthier’s Grove (Latham, NY)

Not too long ago I went over to Lanthier’s Grove for a weekend outing with some co-workers. We went there to kick back, have fun, and enjoy lots of good food.
Two out of three ain’t bad.

No. 83

He doesn’t look a day over 73. Here are some shots from my grandfather’s birthday party this past weekend.