hubba hubba

june is the time for swimming, jean shorts, weddings (!!) and iced coffee. i'm no wimp about the heat - i actually love it - but after an uphill bike ride to work, i can't really deal with a steaming cup of hot coffee. now some people (crazy people) don't like cold coffee, but for the rest of us, it's heaven. remember when you were a little kid, and thought real coffee was bitter and gross but were really stoked about coffee flavored ice cream? even 7 year old you knew what was up.

i still love the iced coffee at capogiro (my former place of employment) the best. it's just cold brewed la colombe, but for some reason it's superior to any iced coffee i've tried this side of the schuylkill. however, the capo at 40th & walnut street is a little too far away from my office for a quick coffee run, so lately, when i need chilled caffeine, i've been rocking it at hub bub.

hub bub is a beautiful, cherry red coffee truck located on 38th street between spruce and walnut. they serve stumptown coffee, some west coast shit that's sure to get your brain buzzing, which is precisely what i'm after on these humid mornings. their iced coffee is super good: strong brew, deep taste, and pleasing acidity, perfectly tempered with a splash of soy milk.


bonus: a skinny straw!! have you been noticing the trend of cold to-go beverages coming with bulky oversized straws? that really bugs me. a "little" size of this iced coffee is $2.50, pretty standard price in these parts. they also offer a "big" size for $3, but i fear any more than 16 ounces of this stuff might give me heart palpitations. the small size gets me just wired enough to focus my mind and knock out a bunch of emails, copies, and memos all before noontime.

here's to the sunshine and the summertime,
emily

it's simple

since the summer, i have been experimenting with simple syrups (aka sugar dissolved in water), and their many manifestations. it's just a matter of picking an herb, fruit, spice, or other natural flavor you can think and steeping it in hot sugar-water. then, you can add your sugar brew to any manner of drink or libation (hot or cold! no need to worry about sugar dissolving in a cold beverage once it's already well pre-dissolved). the possibilities are almost too endless to approach: plucked from your garden, scavenged from your fridge, or grabbed from your spice rack, anything edible is up for consideration. please believe it - every drink can be elevated to new gourmet heights with even a tiny splash of homemade infused simple syrup.

among my many batches, i've tried mint, rosemary, citrus, cinnamon, and most recently, ginger simple syrups. ginger has so far been my favorite. now and forever, i love ginger, any way you slice it (NO PUN INTENDED). ginger beer, tea, and those chewy little candies, i just can't get enough of the sweet/spicy/brainy buzz of real ginger. and the best part of ginger simple syrup is that it's simple as shit. seriously, even a complete kitchen amateur can rock this out.

props to our bro karina for the heads up on this recipe concept!

ginger simple syrup

i'm not even going to list ingredients or whatever, k? it's too silly to even bother.

- just put 1 cup of sugar and 1.5 cups of water into a small saucepan over high heat. bring it to a boil, and stir for a few seconds to ensure that the sugar has dissolved. once it seems good and incorporated, throw 4 or so fat slices of fresh ginger into the pot. you don't even need to peel 'em! 4 slices = about 1 inch of ginger root. then let it just sit and steep, without heat, for 20 - 30 minutes.

- then, check it out - it's done. that's it! fish the ginger slices out with a spoon and you've got potent, perfect ginger simple syrup all ready to go.

- once it's cooled, carefully use a small funnel and transfer it into a cute bottle that will live happily in the refrigerator:


then, please dear friends, try this drink i may have invented:

the cold toddy

- pour plain seltzer/soda water over a few ice cubes in a rocks glass. leave a bit of room. add 1 or 2 ounces of whiskey (don't be finicky - any kind will do), then squeeze in the juice of half a fresh lemon. top with a healthy splash of ginger simple syrup (to taste) and mix well. drink, slowly. 3 or 4 of these babies go down faster than you think.

in the words of our dear friend karina (via wayne & garth)..."zang!"

love,
emily

late spring score

i won't play modest mousy here: when it comes to matters of the kitchen, when i'm on, i'm on. yesterday, the first real day off from work i've had in nearly 2 weeks, i made it my beeswax to spend a good part of my day cooking. first, after a relaxing morning in bed, a trip with ryan to the clark park farmer's market. the farmers' tables aren't as loaded as they may be in a month, but there was plenty to contemplate. we walked away with a canvas bag full of: organic brown eggs (for ryan), herbed homemade chips from the amish man (the first stand in the park if you're coming from baltimore ave. - also, try his mint iced tea!), a big leafy bunch of lacinato kale, two glowing red tomatoes, and a pint of the season's finest: strawberries. good lord, these strawberries are so melt-y and sweet, they make supermarket strawberries cry with shame.

back at home, ryan made some crazy amazing looking omelette, and i whipped up a big old tofu scramble, studded with some onions and roasted red peps. nothing too out of the ordinary, but a hearty breakfast nonetheless:


ry left for work around 3:30, and i biked downtown with him. i met up with my co-worker (and soon to be new housemate!) RJ, and we vented and laughed about work stuff over very, very tall pints of lager at oscar's - best dive bar in the city. we parted ways in the early evening and i savored my slow and somewhat wobbly bike ride back west. the sun was low in the sky, and a gentle breeze kicked off the river. it was the kind of moment i so often dream about during the cruel winter months, buried under blankets on the couch.

when i got back home to an empty house, i was invigorated and inspired to make something special with my farmer's market scores. i decided to really do it up in an everything-from-scratch, multi-step, multi-dish fashion. i didn't have a plan, but a quick rummage through the fridge brought on a slew of fresh ideas. i started prepping some ingredients, popped in a "jazz masters" cassette tape, and then a magical thing happened: i entered kind of a culinary trance, where one idea effortlessly transitioned to the next, and before i knew it, every burner on the stove was occupied, things were marinating in little dishes, and the image of the finished plate was formed in my mind.

and it reminded me of how cooking a meal is like writing a story: you need to give yourself a bit of structure or few character sketches, but the real beauty happens when you fill in the spaces between the plot points, when you loosen your grip on your brain and let it roam. stream of consciousness, kitchen-style, is when you put the cookbooks away and let the food just happen. a lot of the time, it's hard for me to get in this mode, but gorgeous produce and bountiful staple ingredients helped me let go...

much to my surprise, lauren came home from work (i thought she was dining with a friend), which snapped me a bit out of my stove-top reverie. she poured us lovely little grapefruit & gin cocktails:


and helped set the table while i flipped the last few things in the frying pan. she waited patiently while i plated, and then we sat down to what was one of the most creative, satisfying meals i've made in quite a long time:

quinoa w/ crispy leeks topped with chipotle scented lacinato kale & tomato salad, pan fried seed encrusted tofu with spicy crema,
and fresh corn griddle cakes with a minty balsamic macerated strawberries

one little recipe to share for the strawberry topping:
(it's best to make this first, before you even start prepping or cooking anything else, so the strawberries can soften up, with the help of the vinegar, and sweetend up, with the help of the sugars they release)

- mash 6-8 ripe strawbs in a non-metal bowl.
- drizzle about 1 tsp of the best balsamic vinegar you can get (the kind i used is super special, procured on lauren's trip to italy a few years ago)
- toss in about 1 tablespoon of chopped up fresh mint.
- crush up a couple black peppercorns with a mortar and pestle (or, okay, a twist or two of the pepper grinder), and add to the bowl.
- mix everything up and let it sit for as long as possible.
- try not to eat it all before it makes its way atop your griddle cakes, or whatever other lucky dish gets graced with this most luxurious condiment

love,
emily

ruby tuesday

wednesday, whatever. the earth is thawing and i'm bringing juicing back! see, last summer and the summer before that, sissy lauren and i made fresh juice (almost) each and every morning. truly, there is no better breakfast, especially in the dank philadelphia july when you live in a house with no air conditioning and your appetite isn't fired up til somewhere around 2 p.m. on days like these, oatmeal and bagels just aren't options. but cool, creamy, sweet and spicy liquid meal - bring it on! anyway, this year i am determined to start this excellent morning tradition before the equinox. my goal is greatly aided by the newest acqusition to the VR kitchen: a champion juicer! get bent, jack lalanne, the champion is true to its name - the best there is. it's a totally no-frills, powerful, durable machine that cranks out life sustaining beverages. this particular juicer is a gently used purchase from our friend ciarra (thanks, girl!), and so far i've used it about 5 times. i've only made juice, but lauren made peanut butter and there are plans in the works for banana whips (a frozen treat made out of pulverized frozen bananas). i've got nothing against our old juicer (a modest hamilton beach model), it's just a little tired from the years of abuse it has already endured.

so if you see me bouncing off the walls, or catch me starting at you with wily vitamin eyes, blame it on the juice. today's brew: 3 large carrots, 1 celery stalk, half a small apple, 1 very small beet and a nub of ginger. what a crimson beauty:

love,
emily

soul soother

hot toddies, just the basics:
1.5 ounces powers irish whiskey (or whatever you got)
+
juice of 1/2 a lemon (roll it under the palm of your hand before cutting to get the juices flowing)
+
1/2 to 1 tsp. agave nectar or raw honey

pour boiling water over the whole thing, drink slowly,
and feel a little less harshed by reality.


love,
emily