If you’ve never been to Quiet Storm, check it out online at www.qspgh.com and then get yourself over there.  It’s a vegetarian/vegan cafe that’s a bit quirky ( in a good way) but the food and coffee drinks. . . and milkshakes are always delicious.

Last night, the first of two (hooray!) desserts at Legume’s Summer in January dinner ( a 2010 version of a mid-winter Little House on the Prairie meal) was a tender on the inside, crunchy on the outside slice of warm Buttermilk Pound Cake served with Brandied Peaches and Caramel Sauce.  Oh, and a generous  pillow of slightly sweet whipped cream graced the side of the plate. The entire meal, pretty much all pickled or  preserved bits from last summer’s harvest included accompaniments such as slender, vinegary  (they even make their own vinegar here) garlic scapes, a chunky, spiced prune compote and boozy preserved cherries. Each of the evening’s offerings (see  photo above) were perfect for a 20 degree night in Pittsburgh, but the pound cake was our hands down favorite.  This large-crumbed cake was sturdy. .. not a cake for sissies.  And by appearance alone it even looked a bit dry. Then why did this almost average looking piece of  yellow cake  just melt in your mouth? The first tastes  were reminiscent of  brown butter and the initial texture was slightly coarse, but then the texture turned smooth and a sweetness took over.  Our server thought the special flavor and texture was mostly due to one ingredient – the in-house rendered lard. Yes, lard.  I know my husband and I winced when we heard the word (we work in health care, after all)  even though we’ve never been know to have any real fatty food phobias. But if I reach back to my days teaching Food Science at Pitt, I know why this very maligned fat was the perfect complement to the buttermilk in the cake. Rendered lard adds a mild nutty flavor to baked foods with no remnant taste of piggy.( I suspect amazing crispiness outside was also from the lard.) But lard  doesn’t cream well in recipes, so it can leave you with a less than tender final product, thus the need for buttermilk.  Buttermilk tenderizes and also balances the sweetness.  Combined together, it made for a slightly chewy, rustic flavor explosion. With a bit of warm, soft peach and a swirl of caramel mixed with a dab of  whipped cream in each bite, the textures and tastes sang a happy winter song in my mouth.

For a great little video on rendering lard at home, click here:  http://notwithoutsalt.com/2009/08/17/rendering-lard/

This was our first visit to Legume and we will be back.  The owners strive to use as many local ingredients as possible and to make as much as they can truly “from scratch.”  I hope to get to their Seafood Explosion Night and the Over-Wintered Vegetables dinner in March. (www.legumebistro.com)

Giant Turkey Leg

Dietrich’s also had, what should I say (??), hard to find items –  like smoked pig snout, smoked pig tails, scrapple, souse, a few different breeds of tongue and a bunch of different “wursts.” A feel another road trip coming on for an Oktoberfest celebration.  So, the snout and tails are really for dogs, but I think you could sneak them into soup to add some great flavor.  Look at these photos of fun things from Dietrich’s store. The focus is messed up because I still don’t know to work my camera, but you get the idea.  www.dietrichsmeats.com

Do you want this in your soup?

okay, I know this is really strange.

Next stop was Pinnacle Ridge Winery ( www.pinridge.com) mainly because I like the look of their rustic but classy store and tidy vineyards but also because I needed some wine for my stay at the shore.  I am waiting for the Cuvee Chardonnay but it isn’t ready yet, so I leave with a sweet  Riesling and another bottle of the Chambourcin (a popular Berks County wine, I hear.) Chambourcin, which first appeared in 1964, is a ruby red wine that, to me, has no strong tannin aftertaste.  Give this winery a try and I think you’ll be pleasantly surprised.

Pinnacle Ridge in Kutztown

A quick stop at Renninger’s Farm Market and Antiques in Kutztown ( I can’t resist a farm market) to buy navy beans, onions, carrots, celery and bay leaves to go into the soup with my turkey leg and I am off toward Bethlehem PA to pick up d2.  Driving on Rt 100 to get to Rt 22 I pass a sign that says Premise Made chocolates, so the Pilot does a “u-ey” and pulls into the parking lot of the chocolate place. One bag of peanut butter supremes later, I am back on my way.

Premise Made Chocolate Shoppe

There was a very short visit this last Saturday to a rainy Farmer’s at the Firehouse market in the Strip District.  The highlight was that one of the farmer’s had lemon cucumbers. I have never seen them in the market before and since I have been looking for them for a recipe using sheep’s milk feta and toasted pine nuts since last spring I was very excited. Oh, and I then made a beeline to the new donut place near the 21st Street Coffee Shop. The little treats smelled just like the fresh fried donies at the shore and tasted sweet and cinnamon-y  like them, too.  The nice folks there offer lots of toppings and make their donuts in two sizes   – bite size and regular size.  www.peaceloveandlittledonuts.com.  Don’t be afraid of a fried food once in a while. These are just heavenly.

Now to last Sunday. I stopped on my home from Philly at the West Chester Restaurant Festival in, where else, West Chester, PA.  There were lots of booths set up on the main streets of the quaint town . . .and lots of shops that I would have liked to check out if they weren’t all closed because of the Restaurant Festival. Too bad.  I mainly walked around and checked out the menus because, and this is odd I know, I just wasn’t hungry.  I bought a very cool bracelet made from fimo clay with black and white images of retro motels in Wildwood, NJ on the clay rectangles.  Looking for the artist’s business card. When it surfaces, I will post it.    This is definitely a festival that I want to visit next year. A great way to highlight local restaurants.

The night before I went to a Philly Fringe Festival event with  my older daughter. It was really great and the  totally innovative dancing was followed by an amazing dinner at Barclay Prime in the Rittenhouse Square area of downtown Philly.  The executive chef,  James LoCascio, serves top notch foodwith a very keen eye for high quality products like Neuske bacon (yum), jumbo sweet as can be scallops, and the most delicious table filleted Dover sole with brown butter . I met Jim and his very sweet (pastry chef) wife, Ali, at a dinner in early September.  ( More on the dinner later as I go backwards through my end of summer travels.)  Every bite of every dish was loaded with flavor.  The macaroni and cheese included bacon and truffle oil and, because I am such a nice mom, I gave the doggie bag to my daughter to take bake to her dorm  - probably for a midnight snack or breakfast the next morning.  I wanted to take photos of the beautifully prepared food, but I am kind of against taking photos of food in restaurants, so I held back and didn’t do it.  I think what I liked most is that the food was delicious and the presentation was lovely, but it wasn’t that over the top . . construction like stuff that I am a bit tired of seeing.  The scallop appetizer, for example, consisted of two large and sweet scallops wrapped in bacon and placed on top of sliced fried green tomato.  I think there might have been a sauce, I can’t remember, but it wasn’t a crazy tower of things all stacked on my plate. No foams, no creepy surprised. Just real food, looking and tasting great.

Thank you Barclay Prime  and Chef LoCascio for a great meal. We’ll be back.

The salmon ( and halibut?) were from Sara Pozonsky’s Wild Alaskan Salmon Company.  It was grilled and lightly seasoned and just heavenly.  YOu can meet Sara at the Farmer’s Market in the Strip on Saturday mornings or you can order her fish from www.seabeef.com.

It was a fabulous night.

So that is that.

Last night I went to Slow Food Pittsburgh’s Sustainable Fish Dinner.  Okay, this was my kind of food. . . pretty much every course contained salmon . . and it was the best!!!!  The folks sitting near me were such good company that I completely forgot to take photos of the food, but just believe me when I say it was super delish.  Sitting across and over from me was the lovely Jennifer Daurora . . a daughter of one of the McGinnis Sisters from the local gourmet food stores.  It was so nice to know that the stores are going to be in such good hands in the future and it gave me a warm, fuzzy knowing that some family businesses look like they are going to be going for quite a long time.  Yay, Jennifer.

Then, another couple from my hometown were sitting near-by.  Of course, it’s a small world around here, so we knew tons of the same people.  I wanted to catch up even  more, but I got caught up in other conversations. Too bad.  I feel some sort of connection with people from the area where I grew up, even though these two were eons younger than me. I hope to bump into them at another event sometime.

The night began with a friend flinging her glass of red wine across the table onto d2′s favorite sweater, my purse and worst of all, all over another friends “really nice” purse. But the night ended with this miracle powder easily taking out all of the stains immediately once I rubbed it on.  So much for a life without toxic chemicals ( which I am sure this stuff was in that category ) but it worked and that, at 11 PM ( way past my bedtime), was good enough for me.

The websites for the fish place and for the salmon purveyor are coming soon.  Lots to do today to get ready for a birthday party.

Yesterday it was off to Kennywood Park where we missed the annual office picnic by a few hours . . . .not sure how that happened.  Ate some less than stellar nachos and a veggie burger and drove back home.  There’s something about the smell of Kennywood that never changes.  The sounds stay the same, too. It’s comforting in a way. The Noah’s Ark ride was always one of my favorites. It looks the same from the outside as it did back in the Sixties.

The final result was amazing and it tasted pretty good.  The fondant taste wasn’t my favorite . . I like white and fluffy icing a lot better.  But it sure looked nice.

I Made It!

On the way to the SouthSide, we stopped at The Society for Contemporary Crafts – always something to see there and the fabric steaks did not disappoint.

These won't raise your cholesterol.

Of course, I had to stop for a Bitters Combo at  La Prima Espresso ( www.laprima.com).  Bitters are supposedly restorative and since d2 laughed and poked fun at my last post about restorative yoga poses, I thought I would include the word restorative again just for her. Anyway, try the Bitters Combo . . not too sweet, ice cold, fantastic summery drink.

Next stop, The Silver Eye Gallery for some more inspiration from local photographers. But, I was getting ” rumbly in my tumbly”, so we beelined to Cafe du Jour on Carson Street.  A bit warm inside  . . and with only one person waiting tables, so service was a little slow.  I had a tasty grilled mushroom salad  - salty ( good salty, not bad salty), crispy and herby.

Cafe Du Jour - Grilled Mushroom Salad - yummmmmmmmmm

Then on to the South Side Works where we left with lots of goodies from the market.

Later on Saturday we tried Tamari in Lawrenceville.  After a bit of a wait at the bar – where d1 couldn’t get a cocktail because she left her ID at home ( can PA laws be any more insane . . for crying out loud  - she is almost 22 and she was with her parents . . why can’t she have a drink or a glass of wine????? sometimes I hate this state ) – we were seated outside.  It was a warm and breezy night and it was so nice to eat outdoors. The food – a Latin/Asian mix was excellent . . . small portions ( a plus) and beautifully plates.  D1 and I shared a chocolate tart with peppery spiciness for dessert . . made by Dozen right down the street. I was so excited to try out his new place . . . have been waiting a while for it to open. www.tamaripgh.com

Nothing like raw tuna . . . look at the cool plaintain slice on top!

The weekend ended with brunch at Coca . . more to come about that and about the very cool cake that emerged after our first experience with fondant. ( fawn – dawnt or fawn-dint?)