Thursday, September 30, 2010

How Do You Like Them Apples?





We love stocking up at our beloved Market, but sometimes we City Gals like to get even closer to the source. I'm heading out for an apple picking excursion with my family on Sunday.   I expect the inevitable groans from my teen and preteen, but I shall ignore them and persist with my plans. I have scouted the following locales, and all seem quite promising:

Linvilla Orchards
Johnson's Farm
Highland Orchards

Highland will likely get my custom because it is in striking distance of Victory, my favorite microbrew, and I will undoubtedly need refreshment after my efforts.  Golden Monkey Tripel Ale is quite special.

And finally, my favorite twist on an oldie but a goodie.  Remember the caramel apples we loved as kids around Halloween?  Well, here's a grown up version with links to ingredient sources:


Caramel Apple Fondue

1 1/2 cups granulated sugar
1/2 cup water
1 cup heavy cream
2 tablespoons butter
1 tsp vanilla
1/4 tsp sea salt
4 sliced apples

Pour sugar and water into heavy saucepan.  Cook over medium heat, allowing mixture to bubble for about 8 minutes.  Do not stir.  When sugar begins to caramelize watch it carefully.  Really carefully.  It will go from delicious to tar in nothing flat.  As the sugar browns to the color slightly darker than a camel coat, remove from heat.  Pour in cream; caramel will bubble up noisily.  Stir, and return to very low heat if necessary to remelt sugar.  Remove from heat and add remaining ingredients.  Serve with sliced apples in front of a fire with the apple of your eye.

I promise, he/she will like them apples.

Monday, September 27, 2010

The Apple of His Eye

So Michele is obviously the apple of Barack's eye, evidenced by the fact that while at work he thought of her and brought her home a treat--four Gala apples, to be exact, from the Fair Food Farmstand.  Wasn't that the coolest thing that he stopped at Our Market?

Which brings us to this week's contest:  Write a caption for this photo--be clever, be witty, and remember our overall theme:  food and love.  Email entries by Wednesday, October 6.  Winner will be announced Friday October 8.  And yes, you will win a prize!  Here it is...a book about Inter Courses (We mean entrees and appetisers -- this is PG-rated after all.)



President Obama's offering got us thinking about spouses and gifts.  We heartily encourage gifts from spouses, and of course we love apples, but if our spouses hoped to woo us, well, a bag of apples just wouldn't do the trick.  There are many other delectables that would serve their purposes better, especially in the culinary Mecca of Reading Terminal Market.

Here are our top five:
1.  Chocolates by Mueller's Dark Chocolate Cashew Turtles
2.  Cheese (Tallegio, Pecorino, and Belladonna, perhaps)  from Salumeria or Downtown Cheese
3.  Red Velvet Cupcakes from Flying Monkey
4.  Pretzels from Miller's Twist
5.  Fried Chicken from Delilah's



What are your go-to foods when trying to pave the road to your beloved's heart?









Monday, September 20, 2010

Valentine to the Market

  
Welcome to Philly Food Lovers. We are excited to launch this blog as a Valentine to our fave foodie mecca in our fair city, Reading Terminal Market.  Every week leading up to February 26, 2011 (the date of The Valentine to the Market party) we will be featuring a food that is associated with love, and is available at our cherished Market.

Food has been linked to love since the first caveman dragged a brontosaurus steak into his lair. Legends about aphrodisiacs abound, from the Aztec notion that Montezuma sustained his virility by drinking vast quantities of liquid chocolate to Casanova's oyster habit. Amorous properties have also been ascribed to chilies, peaches, ginger, honey, mangoes, mint, vanilla, and figs, to name a few. We will be blogging on these and more as we countdown to the Market Lovefest.

We hope to engage you, our Phellow Philly Phoodies, as we explore these exciting edibles. We will share food memories, fun facts, amusing anecdotes (I have a great one about a cantaloupe, stay tuned....) and conduct contests. So join us on this journey as we pay tribute to a true culinary gem and hopefully, only gain a few pounds.