London recap

Back from visit with our daughter and her husband who now live in London.


They have access to a nice variety of cuisines within short walks.


Arriving early AM (about 8) after a red-eye flight, we settled in and went for breakfast
Cafe Rouge which had the look and feel of a neighborhood bistro, until I started this post, I didn't know that it was a national chain. Very nice.




The next day ...
Light lunch while doing some grocery shopping with our daughter - Jamie Oliver's "Jamie's Italian"
I was looking forward to the "English wild boar salami - From the Cotswolds" ... alas, they were out,
settled for the "seasonal cured meat plank" 

Main was bucatini Carbonara "Tubular spaghetti with crispy fried smoked pancetta and ribbons of leek, tossed with eggs, thyme and Parmesan cheese" while the women picked other pastas (sorry, I forget which). 

We had to try the Posh Chips (we consider them french fries)  with "Insanely good truffle oil and parmesan" ... had to send those back for the truffle oil - sorry.
Our daughter chose MONTEPULCIANO D'ABRUZZO 2009 GRAN SASSO for our wine - nice.

more ... BACON

Bacon - Maple syrup sunday

In season

When Digging for Ramps Goes Too Deep - NYTimes.com:

Long revered as a spring tonic — a nutritious green treat after months of dusty potatoes from the root cellar — ramps grow wild in the woods from Georgia to Quebec. In the South, ramp festivals have been held for generations.

But since the early 1990s, the garlicky allium, with a slender white bulb, dark red stem and succulent green leaves, has gone from a Southern belle to a big-city starlet, with breathless articles in glossy magazines, top billing on restaurant menus and a paparazzi-like reception when the first crates arrive at farmers’ markets in April. And while many people have never understood what the fuss was about, the local-food movement and a growing interest in wild and foraged plants have fueled demand and pushed prices as high as $12 a pound.

New place

Thanks to good friends, I got a chance to try a new place this past week

Enso - East Lansing, MI

Although I only had a salad (wedge blt :Crispy Wedge of Romaine, Smoked Bacon, Tomatoes, Gorgonzola Bleu Cheese Dressing) we'll be back ... when time allows.


Good to find someplace new here.

Some foodie "Apps"

We caught part of The Splendid Table yesterday

April 9, 2011 : The Splendid Table with Lynne Rossetto Kasper

Always an enjoyable listen

The following caught our ear: iPhone apps

Ratio Smart Phone App: Video Demo | Michael Ruhlman: 

"This application will be of special value to anyone who works in a kitchen and to any and all culinary students. And you chefs, authors, and bloggers who develop your own recipes, this application provides the trunk from which a thousand variations branch off. I hope you’ll have a look!"

and

 Fooducate: "We’ve recently launched an iPhone app, simply called Fooducate. The app lets shoppers make better, healthier choices at the supermarket. It empowers you with all the tips and tricks we’ve been writing about on this blog."

With the Fooducate iPhone app, you can
- Automatically scan a product barcode
- See product highlights (both good & bad)
- Compare products
- Select better alternatives!!

We’ve got over 160,000 products in our food database, and growing daily. When you scan a product, our software  analyzes the information found in the nutrition panel and ingredient list, and comes up with a rating and a tidbit or two explaining the product.

You get to see the stuff manufacturers don’t want you to notice, such as excessive sugar, tricky trans fats, various additives and preservatives, high fructose corn syrup, controversial food colorings, and more…