Shanty On The Shore, Burlington, Vermont

There are a handful of things that I seek to eat everyday on a vacation. Tiny clams when on the Mediterranean is one. Another is the best lobster roll and very good clam chowder. I could have these two items every day when I am traveling in New England. In preparation for my trip to Vermont last week I looked into a good lobster roll in Burlington. We were flying in there, landing in the afternoon, so we needed a place that served lunch beyond 2 PM. This place fit the bill. Vermont has been very good about vaccinations and so it wasn't until just now that COVID numbers are rising, so masking was low, but the restaurant has a deck that overlooks Lake Champlain (with an admittedly industrial looking area between the shore and the restaurant. The lobster roll was 100% claw meat, light on the mayo and served on a traditional shaped bun that was brioche dough--so essentially the perfect lobster roll. The clam chowder was rich and flavorful, and I would go back and order this duo again.

Who They Was by Gabriel Krauze

This is yet another memoir that is labeled fiction. I am not sure if it is a a trend but it is the third or fourth one I have read this year. This one was longlisted for the Booker prize last year, and submerges the reader in the life of a teen who is on the one hand drawn to the life of crime and gangs and drugs, but is on the other hand a good student with a rich intellectual life. The back and forth between the lure of learning and then the excitement of intimidating people, holding them with the threat of violence, despite the consequences, is not really better understood at the end of the book than at the beginning, at least not for me. I get that people who have little control over their lives enjoy exercising that over others, but still do not get the pull of that violence when it might mean the end of opportunity for oneself. It is well written but not illuminating for me.

Apple Bundt Cake

Here we are, in the heart of fall, and an apple cake that highlights all the assets of apples is a treasure, and this is exactly that. We did not serve with the caramel sauce and omitted the walnits and it was still spectacular. 50 grams or 1/2 cup plus 1 1/2 tablespoons (140 ml) eggs (about 3 large eggs) 100 grams or 1 cup walnut halves 300 grams or 2 1/2 cups (lightly spooned into the cup and leveled off) bleached all-purpose flour 5.5 grams or 1 teaspoon baking soda 6 grams or 1 teaspoon fine sea salt 4.4 grams or 2 teaspoons ground cinnamon 4 large tart apples (657 grams or 1 1/2 pounds) / 525 grams or 4 cups diced 269 grams or 1 1/4 cups (296 ml) canola or safflower oil 200 grams or 1 cup granulated sugar 163 grams or 3/4 cup light brown sugar 2 teaspoons (10 ml) pure vanilla extract Caramel Sauce and Glaze (optional) The pan must be a minimum 12 cup capacity, such as a Nordic Ware Anniversary Bundt Pan with 10 to 15 cup capacity, or a 12 cup Bundt pan, coated with baking spray with flour; or a 16 cup two-piece angel food pan, bottom lined with parchment, then coated with baking spray with flour Step 1 Twenty minutes or longer before toasting the walnuts, set an oven rack in the lower third of the oven. Set the oven at 350ºF/175ºC. Step 2 Thirty minutes to 1 hour ahead, set the eggs on the counter at room temperature (65º to 75ºF/19º to 24ºC). Step 3 TOAST AND CHOP THE WALNUTS: Spread the walnuts evenly on a cookie sheet and bake for 5 minutes. Turn the walnuts onto a clean dish town and roll and rub them around to loosen the skins. Discard any loose skins and let the nuts cool completely. Chop medium coarse. Step 4 In a medium bowl, whisk together the flour, baking soda, salt, and cinnamon. Step 5 Peel, core, and cut the apples into 1/8 to 1/4 inch dice. Make the batter: Step 6 Into the bowl of a stand mixer, weigh or measure the eggs. Add the oil, granulated and brown sugars, and the vanilla. Attach the flat beater and beat on medium speed for 1 minute, until blended. Step 7 Add the flour mixture and beat on low speed for 20 seconds, just until incorporated. Scrape down the sides of the bowl. Step 8 Detach the bowl from the stand and with a large spoon stir in the apples and walnuts. Spoon the batter into the prepared pan. Bake the cake: Step 9 Bake for 50 to 60 minutes, or until a wire cake tester inserted near the center comes out clean and the cake springs back when pressed lightly in the center. Cool the cake: Step 10 Let the cake cool in the pan on a wire rack for 30 minutes. If using a straight sided pan, run a metal spatula between the sides of the pan and the cake. Invert the cake onto a wire rack that has been lightly coated with nonstick cooking spray and cool completely for about 1 1/2 hours. Step 11 Drizzle Caramel Sauce and Glaze over the cake after unmolding.

A Toda Madre, Glen Ellyn, IL

I went to a really charming exhibit of Frida Khalo's early work and a review of her life in Glen Ellyn and then had lunch at this restaurant, which is part of the Buen Trucha group of restaurants found in the western suburbs of Chicago. Buen Truecha is in Geneva and is the parent restaurant, and if this is any indication, is also the better of the group. This restaurant had a more narrow menu, but with the same great flavors. The tortillas are flavorful, the taco fillings are excellent, a level above a Tex Mex taqueria, and the setting is very well done. We initially started off at the bar, and then moved to a table when it was available, and both settings were nice. I would definitely not wait for a table because in some ways the bar is funner. The food is good quality, and there are daily specials that augment the menu that you can find on line. I would not seek this out (while I have done just that for Buen Truecha), but if I was in this neighborhood again, I would return.

No One Is Talking About This by Patricia Lockwood

I loved Priestdaddy, and if you did too, you won't be disappointed by this, the author's first novel. In some ways it is more like a memoir than a work of pure fiction. The protagonist, like the author herself, is widely known for her online presence and celebrated for her acerbic wit. She is one to go viral, and yet with all the fame comes problems. What does it all mean? Is a highly exposed life on the internet all that it is cracked up to be, or are there downsides, things that diminish us as a result? The answer is as complicated as the question and the book answers them with a mixture of humor and cleverness. This is short, provocative, and will keep you thinking and evaluating your own life on social media.

Tomato and Chickpea Salad

Yet another recipe from Ottolenghi, who really comes through in the summer time with great recipes to highlight the seasonal bounty. 400g tin chickpeas, drained, rinsed and patted dry (230g net weight) 1 large red onion, peeled and cut into 2-3cm wedges (200g net weight) 1½ tbsp olive oil 1 garlic clove, peeled and crushed 1½ tsp ras el hanout Salt and black pepper About 60g tahini paste 1 tbsp lemon juice 600g cherry tomatoes, halved 15g parsley leaves, roughly chopped 10g mint leaves, finely shredded Heat the oven to 220C/425F/gas mark. Mix the chickpeas in a bowl with the onion, oil, garlic, ras el hanout, a third of a teaspoon of salt and plenty of pepper, then spread out on a large oven tray lined with baking paper. Roast for 25 minutes, stirring once halfway through, until the chickpeas are crisp and the onion is soft, then leave to cool for five minutes. Put the tahini in a large bowl with 60ml cold water, the lemon juice and a quarter-teaspoon of salt. Whisk together until it’s about as thick as runny honey, adding a little more tahini if it’s not quite thick enough. Add the tomatoes and herbs, and stir gently. Transfer the tomatoes to a large platter (or to four smaller serving plates), top with the crisp chickpeas and caramelised onions – don’t stir the two together though – and serve.

HaiSous Vietnamese Kitchen in Chicago

My spouse and I spent an extended day in Chicago, driving up for dinner, spending the night, and going to a couple of museums the next day and driving home. This is the restaurant that we chose for dinner and we were very happy we chose it. We opted for the chef's menu, which had plenty of food, and all of it was delicious. Surprisingly, the chicken was my spouse's favorite dish--he tends to find chicken dry and unflavorful, but not so with the fired chicken. He also like the peanuts and dried squid misx, whereas I found the shrimp wraps to be quite good. The atmosphere is casual and friendly, the food leans to seafood heavy, and the food is definitely different from what we would prepare at home. Check it out!

This Will Make It Taste Good by Vivian Howard

There are some very annoying aspects to this cookbook, but do not let that get in the way of enjoying what the author presents. She has some master sauces that she has you make up, some of them requiring that they set for a bit, and others are useable right away. They are flavor power houses, each of them, which you then use as the flavor foundation for a dish. Some of them, which she calls "no brainers", are straighforward and can easily be done in minutes, leveraging the work of putting the mother sauce together to have a complex flavored dish in minutes, and then there are actual recipes that require a bit more time and attention, but again use these pre-constructed sauces. The two that are herb forward sauces are excellent--the Little Green Dress taking quite a bit of time to assemble, but then you can use it over and over again. Same with the tomato pepper relish called Red Weapons. Her version of the herb pesto comes together quickly, and the carmelized onions take forever, but we already know that! I reccommend this for cooks who don't mind spending a weekend day putting the master sauces together and reaping the benefits as the week goes forward.

Gravlox

We just got a box full of flash frozen and vaccuum packed wild caught Alaska salmon, and this is the second thing we did with it! 1 3- to 4-pound cleaned salmon without the head, skin on 1 cup salt 2 cups brown sugar 1 tablespoon freshly ground black pepper ¼ cup spirits, like brandy, gin, aquavit or lemon vodka 2 good-size bunches of fresh dill, roughly chopped, stems and all Lemon wedges for serving Fillet the salmon or have the fishmonger do it; the fish need not be scaled. Lay both halves, skin side down, on a plate. Toss together the salt, brown sugar and pepper and rub this mixture all over the salmon (the skin too); splash on the spirits. Put most of the dill on the flesh side of one of the fillets, sandwich them together, tail to tail, and rub any remaining salt-sugar mixture on the outside; cover with any remaining dill, then wrap tightly in plastic wrap. Cover the sandwich with another plate and top with something that weighs a couple of pounds -- some unopened cans, for example. Refrigerate. Open the package every 12 to 24 hours and baste, inside and out, with the accumulated juices. When the flesh is opaque, on the second or third day (you will see it changing when you baste it), slice thinly as you would smoked salmon -- on the bias and without the skin -- and serve with rye bread or pumpernickel and lemon wedges.

Bisa Butler's Quilts

I got to see these magnificacent works of art at the Chigago Art Institute this past weekend, and it was an amazing experience to behold. The quilts are portraits of people, some of them from famous photographs, some of them people the artist knows, and all of them rendered in bold colors and reminiscent of the fabrics I saw when I was in East Africa. It is hard to describe just how moving these pieces are in person, how much personality wach of them conveys.

The exhibit allows for the viewer to take in each quilt one at a time. They are spread out over several rooms, and there is a sound track for the exhibit, developed by Bisa Butler's signifiant other, who is a DJ. This is a celebration of blackness, exuberant and inspiring to behold.