blogfromafar

     Thanks to a perfect storm of travel disruptions in Europe and the vagaries of standby “buddy passes”, we spent seven “last nights in Europe” one summer. Our unplanned itinerary took us from sold-out flights in Nice, to Paris, to Brussels, evidently in concert with hundreds of other standby passengers looking to get home. We finally settled in Amsterdam, a location we never planned to visit, but one which we enjoyed when we weren’t worried aboug an aging father and elderdogs back home who just didn’t understand.

We’ve all had that trip in one way or another. After the exciting Type-A hustle of planning every last detail, you arrive at your point of departure only to find that a flight has been cancelled, or you arrive at your destination while your bags merrily take a different trip without you. What happens? All of a sudden, you notice that everyone around you is full of purpose, busy tapping their Blackberries, meeting friends, moving on and you are still there, stuck, waiting. (more…)

Tired of those silly summer thrillers? Here’s a fun read that will also leave you feeling a bit virtuous. If Poisonwood Bible left you feeling a little queasy, not to worry. Kingsolver’s latest book is uplifting, funny and real. It details the year her family pulled up roots in Arizona and in a reverse sort of Conestoga wagon- style migration, headed back East, to the family farm. Once there, they embarked on a journey; to eat for one year only those items that they or their neighbors grew themselves. (more…)

Semi Fredo (“half-frozen’ in Italian) is a sort of ice cream cake. We’ve got a recipe that you can make yourself in 1/2 hour or less (but it has to sit for 12 hours before serving) and uses our lovely torrone from Barbero in Asti. The recipe even includes an opportunity for you to take a hammer to it, and so release some of those summertime blues!

Here’s what you need: (more…)

The Krabill cucina went on the road this week: to Atlanta, where we savored an easy, yummy pork tenderloin recipe with old friends and new.Here’s the rub:

                                             

Figs coming at ya’.  A friend once told me that as his kids grew older, they opened and grew towards him rather than up.  That’s the way first figs are.  We wait and wait through June.  Seems like they’ll never come.  Then, without fail, while we’re out of town, they come at ya’.  Spiraling towards you, the little green balls grow, turning rosy red.  Each morning now there’s a chore to be done:  to get the figs before the birds rise.  (more…)

Nothing like a visit to New York City to restore our faith in American ingenuity. Euro, schmeuro….Sub- prime, no time! Parked right in front of the Fancy Food Show was a vehicle that symbolizes not only the latest trends in gourmet food, but capitalizes on them!

It’s the cheese delivery rickshaw from Artisanal Premium Cheese that delivers handcrafted cheese in midtown “between the rivers”. So what trends in food does this vehicle represent? (more…)

At the Krabill Kitchen, we’ve just been experimenting with ageing our own beef. So what is aged beef anyway? If you’ve been to (or treated to) Al Biernat’s in recent history, the price of the dry aged beef steak ($49.95 for a bone-in strip) couldn’t have missed your notice. What’s the big deal? All beef is aged after its euphemistic “processing“, resting for a time while enzymes break down the muscle tissue to produce a more tender cut of beef. Beef can be either “wet aged” in plastic or “dry aged” in air. Dry aged beef rests in a refrigerated area (40 degrees or so), losing some of the water weight (hence the expense), but gaining in flavor. (more…)