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Today is Tuesday and that means Farmer's Market. The Farmer's market at Lake Tahoe is wonderful, all that great Northern California produce looks so yummy. Another thing I like about this Market is the fact that it is so diverse. In addition to produce, there are plants, wine, honey, jams, cold pressed olive oils, soaps, breads, kettle korn, pottery, decorative gourds, and fresh flowers. I think that is just about everything. I took some pictures, but as I was listing all the items offered, I realized I sure did a poor job of taking pictures to represent everything. So on future Tuesdays I will be taking more pictures so I will finally get it all.Let me start with the variety of fruit on sale today. Here is the list: peaches, at least three types of cherries, raspberries, blackberries, strawberries, apricots, pluots, plums, and kiwi.Now for the veggies: red onions, white onions, yellow onions, shallots, beets, garlic bulbs, zucchini, yellow squash, green beans, lettuce, red leaf lettuce, spring mix, spinach, Swiss chard, asparagus, cactus leaves, various fresh herbs, and probably some stuff I missed.Anyhow here are today's pictures, but there will be more next week!! 
As I mentioned before, I have lost my cable connection and now have to rely on online videos to see as much of the show as I can. So here is my opinion, based on what I saw online. Maybe I am alone on this, but the emphasis the judges place on ones "culinary point of view" seems to hold too much importance at this point. If they expressed it as their "culinary speciality", I might understand it better or even "culinary niche". Point of view just doesn't make much sense to me. As I wrong on this????Ok....from reading the comments on the Food Network website, I understand Lisa made a better impression this week. And Adam served almost raw eggs....yuck. I also learned Nipa walked out of the evaluation room. Wow---sounds like a thin skin to me and a little bit short of professionalism. I can't imagine cooking, plating, and serving 30 people on a moving train either, so as in most things it is easier to critize than "walk in the shoes". I know that these challenges are designed to quickly weed out the "faint of heart", but some seem a little extreme. Getting rousted out of bed at 3:00 AM without any warning also seemed a little extreme to me. Oh well nobody asked for my opinon!So the elimated contestent turned out to be Kevin whose "culinary point of view" was "Romance in the Kitchen". When I first heard it I thought it would be hard to convey and turns out I was right.Mary
Another busy week is on the horizon. First off is Sunday with another episode of The Next Food Network Star. That's the good news, the bad news is we've lost our cable connection for the summer so I am going to "make do" with the highlights I can see online at the Food Network Website. I am also going to miss the new series on HGTV to select another design star. Oh well that's life.Then I will be looking forward to Tuesday and the wonderful farmer's market we have here at Lake Tahoe. Watch for Tuesday's blog as I will be sure to include pictures of this wonderful market. I found a great recipe the other day I am dying to try called "Peach Pudding Cake". I will be busy baking that on Tuesday afternoon. Look for pictures of that cake!! It sounds really good!The rest of the week I will be working so that involves a lot of "brown bagging". I always take my lunch (plus snacks of course!) to work. I really don't like people I don't know playing with my food. In upcoming blogs I will be talking more about "brown bagging" and hope to get input from others. It is always fun to see what comes out of other people's lunch box!Have a great week!
Most of my friends are aware that I started drinking wine about 4 years ago. Previous to that I never drank it. By listening to a "time share" pitch, we were given a case of wine. Since I hate to either waste or throw anything away, I, of course, drank it. By the time I got done with that case of wine, I kind of liked it. So since then I enjoy wine tasting whenever it comes up and I have been known to buy a bottle or two, or do I mean a case??Recently we were in Northern California along HWY 101. HWY 101 leads to Oregon and the beautiful Oregon Coast. We found ourselves in Gold Beach, Oregon on a nice Saturday in May and came across the 21st Art, Seafood, and Wine Festifal. Well---lead me too it!! The $10 admission fee included a very pretty wine glass----wonder what I should do with that??One of the wine vender's had Mueller-Thurgau wine for tasting. Now I have never even heard of Mueller-Thurgau wine before, but when the lady said it was a Riesling blend, I decided to try it. I am so glad I did. It is a smooth, medium sweet white wine and I love the taste.The Muller-Thurgau grape was created by Hermann Muller from the Swiss Canton of Thurgau in 1882. Vineyards in Germany, Austria, Northern Italy, England, Australia, and New Zealand make white wine with these grapes. Oh I guess I should include Oregon in that list. I understand it is also called Rivaner or Riesling x Sylvaner.The vineyard I purchased this wine from was Abiqua Wind near Silverton, Oregon. It is called Chloe's Breeze and touted as a "refreshing summer sipper, an aperitif or easily pair it with a wide range of cuisines, from light salads and pastas to zesty dishes".This wine has a really nice flavor that I totally love. It is one I will definately buy again!!Mary
Ever since I saw the first promo about this season of the "Next Food Network Star" competition I have been anxiously waiting for June 1st to roll around. I must say I was not disappointed. Based on the first episode, I feel it will be an exciting season and I am already looking forward to next Sunday to see episode two.After looking over the Food Network website, I was surprised to learn that this is season four. I totally missed season one and didn't see season two either. We didn't have cable TV during those two seasons. Last year's competition was the first one I was I was able to watch. As the ten competitors were introduced tonight, I was amazed by their impressive backgrounds. Don't know why, they are competing to become a host of a Food Network show. Stands to reason they would have credentials.....First up was Elton Brown, telling them to look into the camera and sum up their "culinary point of view" in one sentence. I admired how well the majority of them did. That could not have been very easy!The next morning, when the contestents arrived on set, one of them made the comment "kitchen heaven". I totally agreed. Those piles of fresh veggies looked wonderful. The contestents were split into teams of two and had to make three dishes in 30 minutes. Then they had to plate them and serve their dishes to the three judges, plus five current Food Network stars...wow talk about intimidation!!Anyway, I did manage to pick the contestent that was sent home. It was Cory, so now we are down to nine and I am anxiously awaiting next week's show!!Mary
Of the many tools essential to any well stocked kitchen, a great knife is on the top of the list. Chopping, slicing, dicing--they all require a well sharpened knife. The one that I have been using the last 2 or 3 years is called a Furi East/West 7 inch Santoku Knife. Boy is that a mouthful! So where did I become exposed to that particular knife?? Watching Rachel Ray on the Food Network of course!!
This is my knife, you will notice it has an orange handle. It is a well know fact that orange is Rachel Ray's favorite color. From what I have read, the manufacturer of this knife developed that handle at the request of Rachel. The handle is called the "Gusto Grip" and is designed to keep your hands from slipping and also from getting tired. I can, with all honesty, say that it works, my hand does not get tired and it has never slipped and I use this knife daily.
What the hell is this crazy looking contraption?? It is the Furi Knife sharpener. As any cook knows, a sharp knife is absolutely essential. I figured if I was going to spend the money for a Furi knife recommended by Rachel Ray, I might as well go all the way and get the sharpener too. I am so glad I did.....it works perfectly. It keeps my knife sharp, making food prep so easy. I love this whole system. In addition to the blades shown here, it has two other blades. The one shown here is the one I use just about every third time I use the knife. One of the other blades I use about once a month and the third one I only use about once every 6 to 9 months. It is called the recovery blade. All in all, I love this knife and most of the other knives I have are collecting dust in the drawer!!This is just a note regarding tomorrows blog......Tomorrow night, the Food Network's competition to choose the next Food Network Star....I will be watching and will have more than one comment to make I am sure!!
