Tag Archives: photography

Just a hunk, a hunk, of burning whipped cream?

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I hope Elvis doesn’t mind me changing the lyrics a little, but I thought it was appropriate for my thoughts on Cream. Vanilla-flavored, alcohol-infused whipped cream, that is. Looks like whipped cream, but after that 1/4 second initial hint of sweet you get the wham, bam…wow, that’s got a burn! I may be exaggerating a little, but at 30 proof it’s like mixing a watered down shot of vodka in with your whipped cream; A very unexpected, but interesting combo. The vanilla flavor (which was fairly subtle) was one choice, along with Cherry, Orange, Raspberry, Chocolate, and Caramel. We decided to try it with mango, as you might with plain ordinary whipped cream. It worked well, but I am positive that it would make a better addition to a drink. So, I’ll offer this up for now, and go work on a drink recipe with the rest of the can. Happy Friday….Wish me luck!

Cream. Vanilla alcohol infused whipped cream. With a kick! (very cool packaging)

Vanilla Cream over mango.

A fun red and a fungi makes a great meal.

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It was suggested to us to try the 2006 Atwater Cabernet Franc with grilled portobello mushrooms. So…we did!

I find  portobellos to be a light, healthy, yet extremely flavorful, substitute for beef. They only take a few  minutes for each side on the grill….coated lightly in olive oil, salt and pepper. Grill a few small peppers at the same time. Slice them on a platter when done and throw on some blue cheese, letting it melt. Plate over a bed of arugula blend and thinly sliced red onion. Top with balsamic vinaigrette and you have a satisfying, healthy meal.

New York State doesn’t get a whole lot of credit for its red wines. The Atwater Cabernet Franc is one of the best ones I have had, so I think we’ll have to explore a few more. We thought the wine would pair well with almost anything grilled (including our mushrooms), not to mention the strong, earthy cheese. Its light tannins, blend of red fruit flavors, and slight earthiness made it very drinkable and a food-friendly wine.

It was a fabulous treat all around, and a great selection for a nice warm spring evening.

2006 Atwater Cabernet Franc.

Grilled portobello mushrooms over arugula blend. (click for bigger fungi)

I like it chunky: Guacamole!

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What would Cinco de Mayo be without guacamole?! Our marvelous friend Chef Mark (yup…he’s a chef!), prepared a Mexican feast for  some friends 5 years ago on Cinco de Mayo . It was the 3rd date for Heather and I, and guacaomle and margaritas were a wonderful part of the memorable menu. This is my derivation of the recipes for both.

Chunky guacamole. Pit and scoop out 3 ripe avocados and chop into roughly 1/2″ to 3/4″ chunks. Place in a mixing bowl and squeeze the  juice of 1 lime onto it to keep it from browning (and add some great flavor). Finely chop half of medium white onion and a large handful of fresh cilantro. Dice a small to medium tomato into 1/4-inch pieces. Mince 2 jalapeno peppers (OK..I like it HOT and chunky, but this won’t be too hot if you remove the seeds). 
Throw them all into the mixing bowl with some sea salt (to taste) and stir. This will break up most of the chunks a little, but some hardly at all. Thus…. creating your chunky guacamole.

The margarita. Ah, the margarita. It took me a while to perfect this recipe. I prefer to use a reposado tequila for the smooth smoky flavor. 1800 is a good value and generally my choice. In a shaker with crushed ice add 2 ounces tequila, 1 1/2 ounces triple sec, 1 1/4 ounces fresh squeezed lime juice and 1 1/4 ounces simple syrup. Shake and strain into a margarita glass. Garnish with a lime and orange twist to signify the blending of the 2 flavors. I prefer it up with no salt, but feel free to salt the rim and serve over ice (as I do for Heather 🙂 ).

PS. If you’re in the Rochester area, I highly suggest you take a class from Chef Mark at the Wegmans Pittsford cooking school. It’s very entertaining and informative!

(Chunky!) Guacamole, with hearty yellow corn chips.

The margarita. Up, no salt.

Guacamole ingredients.


Fruity, spicy, and dangerously smooth: Red Wine Sangria!

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Thus starts my Cinco De Mayo prep! Sangria is a Spanish and Portugese treat, not Mexican. But… I associate it with Cinco De Mayo and Mexican flavors, so I’m running with it.  It’s typically made with cheap Spanish red wine, citrus fruit, spices, a sweetener, and sometimes a sparkling beverage. I’ll give you a rough guide as to what to include, but feel free to experiment. That’s how I prepare it; some of this, a little of that, and so on.

My wine suggestion is Protocolo, a Spanish tempranillo for less than $6! Although inexpensive, Heather classifies this wine as “super yummy!” It’s such a great value, we have it often enough to call it our “house red”. Using a wine you like as the sangria base is very important.

Pour your bottle of wine into a pitcher. Add 6 or 7 cloves, a sliced orange, half a sliced lemon, half a sliced lime, a shot of brandy, a shot of vodka, a shot of creme de cacao, and about an ounce of simple syrup. If you want to go heavier on the sour fruit, add a little more simple syrup to balance it out. Stir, and let it sit in the refrigerator overnight. Just before serving, add 10 ounces of sparkling beverage (I used seltzer).

Remember that this is just a guideline – use whatever fruit, spices, liquor, and sweeteners you fancy. You can’t go wrong! Let me know what you come up with, and I’ll do another sangria post in the future.

Fruity, spicy sangria goodness.

Protocolo, our house red, makes a great sangria.

The drink of choice for Sam Axe: The Minty Mojito.

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Do you watch Burn Notice? If you do, you’ll know who Sam Axe is, and that the minty mojito is mentioned frequently. If not, I suggest you mix up a few of these and look for the show on USA.

We were fully immersed in the mojito when we went on our honeymoon to Puerto Rico, including the oddly silly tour of the Bacardi factory (which you should ask me about). We had all kinds: sweet, not sweet, super minty, barely minty, mint pulverized and whole. Pulling from all our experiences, we created our favorite classic style mojito; Minty, not too sweet, not too wimpy.

You can never go wrong mixing lime and sugar, but adding mint is what this drink is about. Thus the minty mojito, as Sam says. Take 10-15 medium sized mint leaves and place them in the bottom of your glass, pour in a splash of rum and muddle until the leaves are well crushed and the flavors are released into the liquid. (Breathe deep, the scent is marvelous, too.) Add lime wedges equal to half a lime and muddle some more to release the lime juice. Add crushed ice, 1 1/2 ounces light rum, 1/2 ounce simple syrup, 3 ounces lime seltzer, and stir. Take a sip and envision yourself on a Caribbean beach!

Mint, meet the muddler. Muddler, meet (and crush) the mint.

The muddling process (old Cuban sugar bag not mandatory).

The splendidly refreshing mojito! Warm weather in a glass.

10-15 mint leaves

1 1/2 ounces light rum

1/2 ounce simple syrup

3 ounces lime seltzer

crushed ice

Good morning…with French toast!

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There isn’t much on the breakfast table that looks as good as maple syrup glistening French toast. Until you add the powdered sugar and raspberries! This tasted every bit as good as it looks. We used our left over Easter bread; a light bread with raisins and golden raisins. Being a day old, the bread soaks up the batter better. (Say that 6 times fast!) I like to cook as light as possible, so I only used egg whites and a touch of skim milk for the batter. Throw it on a hot griddle with a touch of cooking spray (once again trying to keep it light) until golden brown. Top it off with pure maple syrup, raspberries and a sprinkle of powdered sugar. Mmmmmmm.

We decided to have some Tart Cherry Stomp to go with our French toast. This was our first time trying this 100% fruit nectar. Yum…tart and sweet, a great combination. Good morning to you!!

Easter bread french toast for breakfast! (click me and make me bigger)

Tart Cherry Stomp from Red Jacket Orchards, in Geneva.

Happy Easter!

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I just wanted to offer up a few hard boiled Easter eggs that our 3 sons colored, as an Easter morning treat! We’ll be eating the egg whites shortly….sprinkled with salt and pepper and a touch of hot paprika. Here’s hoping you get a few of your own. Enjoy some time with your family!

Easter eggs.

Gooey, earthy, creamy, pungent French camembert.

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French camembert. Gooey, earthy, creamy, pungent French camembert. Ours was super ripe, enhancing all the flavors and textures. If you don’t like strong cheese, this is probably not for you. If you have a slightly adventurous palate, then I highly recommend it!  Grab some crusty bread, maybe an artisan salami, some wine, and you’re in for a treat.

Heather and I decided to do a wine pairing experiment, picking a French red and a French white to go with our fromage.  This, if I may say…was a fantastic idea. First up was the 2004 Chateau La Guillaumette Bordeaux. This medium-bodied, balanced wine brought out the earthiness of the camembert. It was an excellent pairing, and was enhanced by the food. I probably would have preferred this had the cheese not been so ripe. Our second wine was a 2008 Louis Jadot Pouilly Fuissé. This lightly oaked chardonnay was an excellent match, as well, and brought out the creamy, buttery flavors in the cheese. We both preferred this wine, as it was a better balance with the rather strong cheese. What started as a little experiment turned into an excellent dinner!

Camembert and required accessories!

Just look at that ooze.....very ripe.

2004 Chateau La Guillaumette Bordeaux.

2008 Louis Jadot Pouilly Fuissé chardonnay.

The French know how to make cheese!

The juicy, finger-licking good caprese burger!

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It’s fun to make a burger that’s way bigger than you can easily take a bite out of. It just looks really good! But then…you have to eat it. So, you smush it down, with the juices and dressing dripping all over, and take a bite. It’s so flavorful and finger-licking good, you don’t care what a mess it is!

Using irradiated ground beef has become mandatory for us. You can use the 90% lean (to keep it almost relatively healthy), cover it in spices of your choosing, cook it medium, and it’s incredibly juicy and flavorful. Next choose your toppings. For the caprese burger, we used fresh mozzarella, grilled onions, tomato, and fresh basil topped with balsamic vinaigrette dressing. As an added bonus, the “bun” became grilled rosemary olive oil bread! Skip the fries and grill some fresh pineapple wedges for a healthier side.

This will be the first of many burger posts for the upcoming summer season. Let us know what you’d like to see on the next one. Cheers!

The caprese burger! Yum!

Rosemary olive oil bread becomes the perfect "bun".

2008 The Stump Jump, G.S.M. 90 points in Wine Spectator and a great match for the burger.

Food!

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What a title, right? But that’s what we say…Let’s go to Food!  Food at Fishers Station.  If you haven’t been, just know that you will wait in a line outside -whatever the weather may be – and it will be worth the wait!  All I can really say is… it’s truly amazing how good the pancakes are. I can’t properly explain how they just melt in your mouth… or how much my mouth was watering as I was quickly taking these pictures. I didn’t plan this shoot ahead of time, but I figured if we were lucky enough to get the table by the big window, it would be easy to grab a few shots. That table wasn’t available, and we ended up at the counter in rather dim light. That turned out to be a real treat (despite the very slow shutter speeds). We got to watch the Stewart family and crew in a swarm of activity, masterfully handling the crowd (and this crazy guy with a camera, taking pictures), being ever hospitable.

Breakfast perfection included the 2-2-2: two pancakes (looks like more than 2 to me!), two eggs, and two sausage patties, and the short stack (not so short either) with an egg on top.

My suggestion: Go there (7548 Main Street, Fishers, NY), check on the hours (they are limited Thursday – Sunday), bring cash, be prepared to wait in line, and enjoy!

The 2-2-2, two pancakes (actually more!), two eggs, and two sausage patties.

Short stack with an egg on top!

Is this stack really short? Nope. And its fantastic!

Hot coffee, and the mug says it all.....