Best spot in town

Ok, ok, it has been awhile, a long while! Nothing quite like
getting together with my amazing neighbors to spark the fire of community. Last night I ventured East to a fellow greeners home for a South Philly Green meeting where we talked trash (literally...oh and some trees too!) over killer guacomole, cookies and pizza!! I think this pizza was from the ever famous Cascia's (square pizza no cheese...whoa! the BEST f-ing sauce I have ever had).

Equally as cool and completely food/community centric was our Bouvier Community Garden potluck on Sunday (see photos)! About 20 neighbors convened at my home and brought some SPEZIAL stuff. One of the new gardeners (she'll be able to stay now!) turned me out! to okra that is...Holy Shit! I have NEVER liked okra, much like my previously despised arch enemy eggplant, it took someone with very special powers to create a meal that opened up a new world to my tastebuds and erased all slimy memories of eggplant and okra past. My Aunt Kathy in Long Island, ever powerful master of eggplant, life and love crafted a glorious dish of eggplant parm a few years ago that I politely (and to my favor) ate and devoured...same experience with Mira's okra (thank you Mira and thank you mom for the 2 bite rule!). There were savory lentils, salad and hummus (prepared from groceries purchased at Maroto's, Santo's and Oscars), garden friendly tabbouleh, CHEESE biscuits (I even ate someone's left over biscuit when they all left...is that TMI?), ravioli, and a bean and shrimp dish! The winning beverage was Jarrito's Tamarindo soda!! Lest I forget dessert FIRST! one should always have a cookie (or a few...Arline made slammin' chocolate chip cookies) to set the palate up and a lemon bar (or two, prepped by Laura who used local newbold butter ;-)) to cleanse the palate (her husband Gene suggests a lemon bar closed faced sandwich comprised of 2 lemon bars inverted, sandwiching one in the middle now that's using your head!).



So here I sit, sipping on some tea having returned from our neighborhood association meeting where new neighbor Cara (she too can stay...PLEASE!!!!, Cara attended both our clean and green meeting willingly, the general meeting AND brought her homemade/killer/vegan(never a clue) chocolate cupcakes with brown sugar icing and another with mint. Bless her!

During the planning portion of our meeting tonight I couldn't stop stressing the significance of a quality brunch spot here, I think with that available I really could keep myself in the bounds...? To be continued...

Yes, even you can cook Thai Food!

Yesterday, I prepared Larb (which I think refers to the sauce you make) with bean thread noodles and shrimp (see recipe below, which I took a lot of liberties with...see notes too). I did a thorough scope of the hood yesterday and my crisper in the fridge is abounding with green beans, pomegranate, pink grapefruit, fresh herbs...I could go on and on! I also got some gladiola's from Oscars in honor of my stepmom's favorite flowers, they are going to open in days and be glorious!

Santo's on 15th and Tasker continues to be a favorite, it is clean and they have everything! I actually had the pleasure of meeting Santo and after I described what I was making he graciously gave me some thai basil to add to the mix.

I also ventured to the fish store on 16th and Tasker, I think they do a better pre-cooked business than fresh fish? There sign boasts a lot of possible sea creatures and I didn't see much (I truly would be in heaven if I had a resource for a good filet of anything). I got the shrimp from them and wasn't too impressed (could have been that I over cooked them but even overcooked shrimp aren't as rubbery). My roommate has gotten mussels in pasta from their and fried fish in the past which have all been good and overflowing for what you pay.

All totaled for yesterday $40.00 and I have my week of groceries plus lots of stock ingredients that I will use again and again!

PS - I have come to the conclusion that I will not be exclusively eating the hood. Based on my daily schedule that usually has me in the outside world from 8ish to 8ish and my current caloric need increase, I just can't risk being out there without the green light to grab snacks as needed! Never fear, my heart is safe here and I continue to make this my priority and will always obtain the majority of my sustenance here!

Goodnight!

Larb (the recipe below is as I got it on line, see the notes below for my changes)

Ingredients:
1 package (1.4 oz)bean thread noodles
1/2 cup sliced fresh shallot (use a bit less if desired)
1 cup cooked ground pork
2 tablespoons khao koor (see below)
1/2 tablespoon ground Thai chile powder
3 tablespoons fish sauce
2-3 tablespoons lime
1/4 cup chopped spring onion
1/4 cup chopped fresh cilantro
1/4 cup fresh mint leaves


Soak bean thread in water for at least 5 minutes, then use scissors to cut it a few times into 2-3 inch pieces (see picture). Boil in water for just 2 minutes, drain, place in bowl, drizzle a small amount of vegetable oil over noodles to prevent them sticking together, and set aside.

To prepare khao koor: get a skillet fairly hot, and add a couple of tablespoons of uncooked. Keep in movement until the rice starts to turn golden brown. Remove from the heat and allow to cool. Grind to a fairly coarse powder in a mortar and pestle. The powder should retain some texture.

In a large mixing bowl, add shallot, cooked pork, khao koor, ground Thai chile powder, fish sauce, and lime juice. Toss gently until mixed well. Taste it and adjust flavor as you like. You might want a bit less chile powder to tone it down, more lime juice to add sour, or sugar to add sweet flavor.

Add bean thread noodles, spring onion, cilantro, and toss it together a little (not too much).

Transfer to a dish, we prefer over leafy greens, and top with a generous amount of whole fresh mint leaves. Enjoy!

• Used Shrimp instead of pork
• Do without the ground rice, instead add crushed peanuts
• Add more mint
• 1TBS jalepeno
• Add mangoes, cucumber bean sprouts, red pepper (julienned)
• 5 TBS fish sauce
• 6TBS lime
• sprinkled some sugar
• This would be great wrapped in rice paper

Congratulations Vernice!!

Who the hell is Vernice, you might be asking and what does she have to do with eating in the hood?? Well, everything! Vernice is one of my near and dear roomates, she came to stay only for a few months in the process of completing her degree at drexel last spring. It is now almost a year later and she hasn'tmanaged to leave Hicks St. (Caution: this street has a magnetic draw! I have threaten to venture out at least 3 time in the last few months and I just can't seem to go!!). Vernice and I worked together a few years ago, she entered my life via the fitness center at the EPA here in Philly, she has stuck ever since. Her determination and her willingness to go where no Vernice would go have been a constant source of inspiration and pride (proud to know such an amazing individual and lucky that she shares her life with me).

So I walk in my house and Vernice has had a noticeably stressful day, her and I have not connected in months so I offer up that we go down the street to Hicks and Mifflin to the South Philadelphia Taproom (a location I have not purposely left out of my recent adventures, rather I already know and appreciate its value so I have left it to the side in an effort to branch out of my culinary comfort). She invites me into her room and in a gesture of thanks for some letter I wrote on her behalf long ago, shares with me this divinely over-sized degree, her glorious name emblazoned in the middle. Vernice is a proud and OFFICIAL graduate of Drexel University with a Bachelor of Science!!

To fully congratulate her we catch up, leaving nothing out, over kick ass wings (delightfully fried minus the obnoxious hot sauce they are drenched in at other locations), the accompanying collard greens are sweet and savory, the hint of brown sugar and the rustic bacon shine through without taking away from the tenderness of the collards, the only drawback is the portion could be 3 times the size! For my entree I feast on my standard flat bread and hummus with olives and various pickled things (also something I could devour by the plateful, the variety of pickled things that they serve here astonishes me...tomatoes, peppers, cucumbers, cauliflower, mushrooms...you can't go wrong with a pickle in my book! ;-). Vernice noshes on a well cooked burger and fries! The service is always friendly and familiar.

My wish? that the patrons of SPTR branch out in their culinary feasting' and try out Hardena at the other end of the block, or experiment with me and the fish eyes at Pendawa...any takers?

Oh, I would be incomplete in acknowledging that I did feast all day in Newbold...my breakfast/lunch consisted of un baguette from Ultimo, slathered in Chevre (OMG goat cheese, love it, who doesn't love cheese...allergic or not!) and fig spread...oh Europe how I long for you and your appreciation of fresh baked bread, slathery cheese and sweet jam!

Nighty, nighty my growing community!

Let's talk integrity, I don't mean a big moral discussion on right and wrong, just straight up integrity. Let's take Dictionary.com's 2nd definition for integrity: " the state of being whole, entire, or undiminished". Now let's apply it in a sentence...Leslianna's commitment to this project really lacks integrity. Now remember folks I am not trying to get down on myself, just say it like it is! I mean the last two nights I have without shame eaten in Fairmount and at the Whole Foods in South Philly. For me the thing about integrity is that it is like a woven sheet, when it is present man it's like sleeping on 1,000 count silk sheets, when it's not it's like those sandpaper, bluelight special 50 count MFer's. The thing that I have noticed about when I live in complete integrity really cool, unexplained shit can happen, and when I don't I get frustrated with the inconsistencies of my already unpredictable life, people end up not relying on me for various things and well I end up sleeping more than I could ever have imagined was good for a human being at my age. I have always believed in the ability to restore the fabric of my integrity so here it goes! I am back on the hood horse Friday...meeting friends in town tomorrow night so I am not even pretending that I am back in the game tomorrow...spring rolls look out!

Lest I forget the BEST coffee in Philadelphia

I was despondent about a week ago when I thought the source of my re-occurring stomach cramps (is this TMI?) was too much coffee!! I laid off it for about a week and experienced no change...WHOO HOOO! I can still get my coffee fix at Ultimo (15th and Mifflin Sts.). I stopped in Saturday after a way too long hiatus.Carefully selected and finely roasted coffee is brewed fresh (no electric brews here) the amazing scent wafting up and exciting my nose hairs! The house brew is always great and if you, like myself, really don't know anything about coffee - just what is good and what is crap, the barista's are more than happy to share the more delicate qualities of the coffee options. I love going here, everyone is friendly and the music is stellar! It makes me very proud to have the highest quality cafe right around the corner.

TONIGHT! I hosted our Newbold Neighbors Association Board Meeting at my house and we feasted on treats from Friendly 1515 (Morris and Hicks). The big winner, I think more out of circus freak type curiosity: Japanese mochi (see enjoyment below) - a chewy mystery filled sweet treat (15 in a box for $3.50). The mochi reminds me of taking sugar cookie or pie crust dough and rolling it around sugar a pastime of childhood and well let's face it annual cookie making well into my 30's now. We also feasted on wafer thin lemon sugar crackers ($1.50 box) and Lychee hard candy (my personal favorite of the night, $2 a bag).




What's next, you ask?? This weekend I am making Larb with bean thread glass noodles and shrimp and then rolling it up in rice paper and calling it a spring roll! (recipe from http://importfood.com/nove3001.html)

This weekend will find my revisiting Duy's and embarking on a brand new venture into the fish market on 16th and Tasker.

I can't believe I ever left my neighborhood

Hidden gems on every corner, I tell ya! Well at least most.

At some point, and I suppose there is no time like the present, I need to acknowledge that the opinions expressed in this blog are that of the author only and she is not accountable for any misinterpretation on behalf of the reader. Should said reader choose to accept said authors word as truth...so BE IT! All readers be advised that nothing beats experiential learning and the author herein requests (challenges) the audience to patronize these establishments and share your experience (especially if you see something I missed, particularly chocolate trail mix). I hope all that mumbo jumbo sounded clever and official!

All that brings me to my current seat, in my room, at my desk, my dear tuxedo cat snoring faintly in the background, the chocolate from my peanut butter surprise beginning to kick in to my relatively decaffeinated system (I am sure to be up way later than I wanted!).

One thing I have yet to find within the Newbold boundaries is a good chocolate trail mix, oh how I craved that today! I made due with chocolate chips, peanut butter, almond butter and raisins (all from my kitchen) not the same but a sturdy replacement.

Today's adventures took me to Italia, actually Maroto's Grocery on 17th and Mifflin (I think??). Holy crapola, you can get a huge can of extra virgin olive oil for $17, it is a crime I keep buying my olive oil from Whole Foods and Trader Joe's (love the guys but really?! olive oil runs in my veins and i go through it like water so every 2 weeks I am recycling a glass bottle, wasting gas to go get the new one, and wasting a good $2-3 of my money overspending!). I digress...Maroto's have been there for 90 year, no kidding! It smells of cured meats and old wood, good old fashioned Italian market. You might never know this place is open (quite possibly purposeful) but just pull on the door and your in! I got chick peas for hoummus, gulden's mustard (I have been obsessed with mustard on raw veggies and pretzels, and let's face it, right out of the jar - no I am not pregnant), club soda (love the BUBBLES in my throat, go ahead embrace the freak in you too!!), artichoke hearts (they have a jar the size of my head that you can buy!), and as an impulse purchase after I already paid I got a head of garlic for no other reason than "who doesn't need more garlic" (I blame my genes).

In addition to a great can goods selection they have a some local homemade Italian bread, a deli with meat and cheese and a refrigerated section with homemade pasta from Nino's. I was most thrilled that if I want to make a quick/easy clams and spaghetti they have my favorite brand (don't remember the name, it is in a yellow can) of clams and clam juice, they are also well stocked with a variety of progresso soup for a comparable price to any major grocery. I can't wait to charm the Italian outta these guys!($5.75 at Maroto's)

The quest ultimately today was to find ingredients for a vegan brunch I am cooking on Sunday. I settled on tofu scramble with sun dried tomatoes (had them at home but could get them at Maroto's) and broccoli, with a side of roasted sweet potatoes and a spinach salad with caramelized onions, artichokes and mushrooms.

Got the tofu, mushrooms and onions from Duy's on the corner of Morris and Chadwick Sts., a VERY tight squeeze in here. They are packed with lots of stuff and seem to have the most variety of cleaning products (all seen from the street lined up in their window). All in all not my most warm and fuzzy experience but my highlight was seeing my neighbor walk in as I walked out, I don't think she speaks much English because all we ever get through is "hello", "how are you" and smiles and nodes. Duy's does have a great selection of root veggies and general produce. When I venture into cooking up the noodles I bought last week I will be in their for soup stock, lemon grass and other critical ingredients. ($2.63 at Duy's)

Final stop for the day was Oscar's for the spinach, sweet potatoes, a couple pears and lemons. ($3.50 at Oscar's)

Tonight dinner was from Circles, on my friend Kate (thanks Kate!), the grilled calamari salad is fantastic and the Massaman Curry with Chicken was good too.

My entry would not be complete without acknowledging my stop at DeCarlo's vacuum and sewing machine repair shop (no yummies here). I had to get vacuum bags and I walked in greeted by two gentlemen, no major shenanigan's yet but wanted to note this resource...they sell things related to vacuums (including vacuums) and repair sewing machines. Very helpful!

Well, it is off to bed...FYI I will be cheating tomorrow as I will be attending the 2 year birthday part of Principesa Lucia Hayes Federici, my beloved niece in Germantown, thanks in advance for the forgiveness...Bonna Notte!

Making my way to Morris...

I know it is 4 days since my last post (my modem went down and I have been hijacking internet access when I can)...none the less I have had daring adventures in Newbold over the last few days...one outside cheat today with a delightful scone in Mt. Airy at High Point Cafe (wonderful crepe place and more).

Ok, ok...so my absolute pick of the week is Pendawa Cafe on the corner of Morris and Mole! This place is incredible...Indonesian "bento" box meals packed with goodies. I went for a safe bet of tempeh and beef with a fried egg and tofu over rice (for $5 I got two meals, there is like 10lbs. of rice in each box it seems!). They had everything under the sun. I contemplated getting what I thought was seaweed salad until I notice that the eye's on the seaweed seemed to be contemplating me...NOT seaweed rather some sea animal (I DO intend on getting that one day but for now just going over the threshold of unknow grocerers is an event for me!).

Pendawa's center isle is covered in freshly prepared Indonesian delicises from sweet coconut treats to savory shrimp pastries(coconut treat - $1.50, not my favorite however, barely a second, more like a 4th or 5th to my ever favorite Brasilian treat Beijinho's little OH MY GOODNESS coconut yummies bought in Northeast Philly) . My second favorite find in there was root chips (sweet potato, and two other kinds I don't remember). My total at Pendawa = $7.75, 2 full meals!

Lest I forget my dear friend on the corner of Morris and Broad Street, Oscar! Oscar runs a produce stand all year round with the best deals on produce (very occasionally he has organic). I can always count on him for staples like carrots, celery and broccli. On Tuesday he was sporting delicate and sweet RASBERRIES (oh how I wish I could have made sweet crepes that day!) for $0.99. Oscar is always friendly, cleans his corner and humors me when I want to practice spanish!

Well kids, I do believe I am talking to myself at this point! And I promise to talk more (I do love the sound of my own voice) as soon as the modem gets rolling tomorrow!

Until next time, "Who are the people in your neighborhood? in your neighborhood? in your...."

Adventures on Tasker Street

January 2, 2010
Yesterday I hit up San Marcos grocery on Mole and Tasker, a personal favorite for the geniality and great conversation (I timidly practice my ridiculously limited spanish). I was stalking these Summer Rolls that a local women markets their (3 huge rolls with peanut sauce for $3.75!), unfortunately she must be on vacation because this is the second time in the last 2 weeks I have walked out with a sad face and no summer rolls. I did however get una naranja para 75cents.

Stop #2 was Circles on the corner of Tasker and Hicks where I met Julie, a very pleasent woman who remembered me from the last time (love that!). Lo and behold they had the summer rolls ($4.95 for 3), well packed with shrimp and a delightful, refreshing hint of mint (the peanut sauce has a great kick). I also got the Thom Kha soup with chicken ($2.95), a light coconut soup with onions, lemongrass and chicken (DEEELISH!). I love their soups for these brutally cold days!

Stop #3, Santos Market, corner of Tasker and 15th Street. I was relieved to find a local source for oatmeal (Quaker 1 minute) and my guilty please Cremora! So noted but passed over for and adventure in Tamirind Candy (.75), next time I'll get the spicy ones, Rice noodles and mung bean noodles (not sure what they will turn into yet). The score of the day was the Tahu Beronta'e ($1.50)a fried tofu capsule containing shreaded cabbage, carrots, etc with rice noodles (YUM!).

Grand Total: $10.25, all of the food will carry me for at least 3 meals.