Summerbeat – Edible Queens Throws a Great Party With Beer, Meat, and Ice Cream

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Last Thursday I had the pleasure of attending Summerbeat: Eat Meat Drink Beer, a delicious celebration of Edible Queens’s relaunch. The publication went though some editorial and ownership changes in the past year, as well as a site relaunch (which looks great). All the staff did a tremendous job with organizing this seriously delicious event and I thought I’d bring you some of the sights from the evening.

I arrived around 5:45 p.m., and the crowds were light but increased over time, but not to the point where things were unbearably crowded (as can be the case at some NYC food events). That’s one of the things I loved about this event—there was a lot of breathing space and it was easy to move around from vendor to vendor.

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It was easy to chat with the vendors. The first person I saw was Brian Donaldson, owner of Native Coffee Roasters. He was there with his excellent cold brew coffee, and I loved seeing his smiling face at the start of the evening. More on his coffee later.

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This is the Big Alice Brewing table. They are a new nano brewery in LIC and make very small batches at a time.

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I really enjoyed their Sour Cherry Sour Ale. It had a nice tang to it and I loved the cherry aspect. They use dried sour cherries in the mix.

The folks at the Bridge and Tunnel Brewery, a micro-brewery based in Maspeth, Queens, were also having a great time. I tried their Hazelnut Brown Ale, which was light and delicious.

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The first meaty dish I had was this very interesting and delicious roast duck sandwich from LIC Market. It had a foie gras butter on it and a cherry spread. I loved the soft, buttery bun, too. It was fun to chat and connect with Chef Alex Schindler, too, who was there on site.

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When I stopped by an empty table with a flurry of preparation activity around it, I had to ask what was up. The young woman told me that Peking duck was on the way from Canton Gourmet. Well, I love Peking duck and was looking forward to trying it.

When it was ready about a half hour after that, I went to check it out and was pretty happy with what I tasted—a nice balance of duck, cucumbers, and hoisin sauce. And yes, I do love the hoisin sauce (I used to eat it often when I would order Chinese American steamed vegetable dumplings from the takeout joint up the street from my last apartment). It also made me miss my beloved duck buns in Flushing. Must get back soon.

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After that, I wandered over to the table in the corner, and lo and behold it was Ovelia! I love their food at their restaurant (sesame crusted feta cubes, be still my heart!), and was really happy to see them at this event. Owner Peter Giannakis and crew were serving spit-roasted lamb and at the first bite, I was in love! The beautiful lamb flavor was there, combined with lemon and some kind of herb (my guess would be oregano), and the texture was wonderful—very easy to eat. This was my favorite meat of the evening.

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I also had the chance to try some of Alchemy Texas Barbecue‘s meat. They are a newish barbecue joint in Jackson Heights, located in the back of Legend’s Bar. While a bit fatty for my taste, I enjoyed the flavor of this meat, and the barbecue sauce was delicious, too.

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I was sorry to not get any of Tyson Ho‘s North Carolina style barbecued hog meat, but I got to taste his work a few weeks back at the second session of the inaugural day of Hog Days of Summer in LIC. Here’s what I ate then, which was similar (sans slaw).

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I couldn’t leave without a glass of Native Coffee Roasters’ cold brew coffee, which was strong and delicious. Plus it was gorgeous. Just look at that!

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By the time I had to leave, there was quite a crowd enjoying the food and drink. I left with a cup of ice cream from Malu—a scoop of Shiraz Rocky Road, and a scoop of Bourbon Maple Bacon. I ate it too fast to take a photo because it was irresistible. But here is the scene I saw as I left.

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Actually, I didn’t leave right after that—I found my friends Tom and Lisa hanging out just past the entrance! It was fun to catch up for a bit and chase the sunset that was happening before our eyes. It was really beautiful (I saw a number of shots of this sunset on Instagram) and I’m glad I stuck around to photograph it.

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One thing I didn’t mention yet is that the event took place in Sunnyside Gardens Park, a private park located in the historic district of Sunnyside Gardens, so it was a real treat to be in this park just on its own. On my way out of the park, the fireflies kicked it into gear and put on a real show. It was beautiful. And very summery.

Many thanks to Edible Queens and the vendors who were there, who fed us and quenched our thirsts. It was a wonderful time!

Swapping Russian Gingerbread Thumbprint Cookies

Blogger Cookie Swap 2011 CollageThis year I did something a little unusual for me – I participated in a cookie swap… The Great Food Blogger Cookie Swap, to be exact. This was the inaugural swap. I traded cookies with some bloggers I didn’t know – there was a little mystery to it, but I enjoyed that aspect of it. Not to mention the promise of cookies. My verdict – super fun!

I came across this cookie swap via a link on Facebook – the swap is run by Lindsay of Love & Olive Oil and Julie of The Little Kitchen. So, I went to their site, filled out the form and expressed one preference – that the cookies be made with natural sweeteners. I was fortunate to be paired up with people that were open to this preference, and I got two out of three dozen cookies that worked with that preference. They both used coconut sugar, which is very cool.

The first cookies I received were from Anna. She made these absolutely delicious chocolate mint shortbread cookies in fun shapes – fluted circles and stars. They were made with coconut sugar and were decorated with a high cacao content chocolate, too. I loved how they were packaged in a pretty Christmas tin, complete with a beautiful handmade card. Chocolate and mint is one of my very favorite combinations, so this was a serious treat.

Then Kiri’s cookies arrived – cinnamon spiced butterscotch chip pecan cookies. These were made with coconut palm sugar and stevia and were very tasty. I loved them with a cup of chai tea – a perfect combination. I also have a long standing love of butterscotch chips – not the most nutrient dense of foods, but they hold special memories for them, so I smile whenever I eat something that contains them.

Finally, Suzanne’s cookies arrived – cocoa fudge cookies. While they weren’t made with natural sugars, they were made with quality ingredients and a surprise – thick greek yogurt in place of the egg. While you know I do not shy away from eggs, I loved the moistness the yogurt provided in these cookies. They were very rich and chocolaty tasting. My boyfriend loved them, too. They were perfect with a glass of raw milk.

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A Hard Cider Revival at New Amsterdam Market

macoun applesYesterday (Sunday) I made my way over to the New Amsterdam Market for A Hard Cider Revival, one of their fall events on top of their weekly market. Sunday also marked the start of the inaugural Cider Week here in NYC, and there will be lots of events throughout the city celebrating cider – hard and soft – and the apples behind it. A Hard Cider Revival involved cider tastings, tapas, and sampling of different kinds of apples (some rare).

About the New Amsterdam Market – it is a very neat weekly outdoor market that focuses on local, seasonal, artisanal foods. It is located down by the South Street Seaport on the east side of Manhattan. From their About page:

New Amsterdam Market is a reinvention of the Public Market, once a prevalent institution in the City of New York.  Revived for our present times and needs, New Amsterdam Market will incubate a new and growing economic sector:  small businesses such as butchers, grocers, mongers, and other vendors who source, produce, distribute, and sell foods made with regional ingredients as well as carefully selected imports. We are also reintroducing and developing the concept of market fare prepared with regional, seasonal ingredients.

I won tickets to A Hard Cider Revival tasting via twitter, which was very cool. I rarely win things, so I was seriously psyched at my win here! I was given two sets of 5 tickets each; each ticket equalled one drink or tapa. It was cool being able to have access to a variety of hard ciders, along with some tasty treats from Marlow & Sons (a Williamsburg restaurant that focuses on local, seasonal, organic food).

I tried a few things and really enjoyed them. My favorite of the ciders is the Northern Spy from Eve’s Cidery. It’s made from green Northern Spy apples, and I enjoyed how it tasted like a dry sparkling wine but with a distinct apple flavor. It’s what I think hard cider should taste like.

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Beach Plum Week

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Today I was alerted to Beach Plum Week, happening in the adjacent neighborhood of Long Island City, Queens. I’d never heard of beach plums before this, but turns out they are plums indigenous to New York City and Long Island. Like a lot of plums they are slightly tart, and I imagine that increases around the pit and in the skin. They are also very small, like a half to one inch in diameter.

From what I can gather, beach plums do not grow on tall trees but on more of a bushy, lower-lying plant. It also seems they like sandy soil (hence the “beach” in their name), but can grow in heavier soil, too. At first I thought the plum trees outside in the backyard might be beach plums, but after reading a little bit about them it doesn’t sound like it; what my plums are is still a mystery to me.

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Candied Bacon Lollipops at the Sunday Night Dinner

bacon lollipops up close at the sunday night dinner

One of the projects I founded with We Heart Astoria is the Queens Blogger Social. Every other month, we gather bloggers and writers based in Queens and meet up at a local restaurant or bar, for conversation, socializing, networking, and eating delicious food. These events are a lot of fun and it’s been great to meet other bloggers in our fair borough.

Last week we were honored to work with Tamara Reynolds of the Sunday Night Dinner, a private supper club in NYC. The idea sprung up at our last blogger social at Ornella, a local Italian restaurant (I’m working with them to do a dinner for my traditional foods meetup group – more on that later), and it was a tremendous one. She put together the menu and we put together the guest list.

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Dinner at Brooklyn Grange – a Summer’s End Celebration

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A couple of weeks ago, I had the pleasure of attending an event at Brooklyn Grange, a rooftop farm in Long Island City. My understanding is that it is the largest urban rooftop farm in the country, which is pretty impressive to me. It is set up on the roof of the Standard Motor Building (37-18 Northern Boulevard), and is the size of approximately an acre. 1.2 million pounds of soil are on that roof, too!

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fields of green at brooklyn grange

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September Queens Swap Success

As I have mentioned before, I’m one of the organizers of the Queens Swap, a food swap based in the borough of Queens. We are one of two organized food swaps in NYC. Another one is coming, though, focused on traditional foods (called the Traditional Food Swap), which is very exciting. You better believe I’ll be participating!

I am happy that Queens Swap got to welcome another organizer on the team: AJ Simone, my friend and fellow food fanatic (and super crafter) from the blog Handjobs (For the Home). He really helped make this event a success.

Anyway, we held our second food swap on Saturday, at Fresh Start Market in Astoria. We used their back patio, which is where we do our Hellgate CSA distributions, so it was a really familiar space for us. It turned out to be a perfect amount of space for our group, with enough room to spread out all the swappable items, along with space for refreshments (lemonade, cookies, olive chips and wasabi popcorn) and room for socializing.

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