French Food, American History

On Friday night, Emily and I want to Gettysburg (by way of the East Berlin Road - always more scenic and less stressful than the Lincoln Highway) to see my friend Becky's aforementioned production of The Triangle Factory Fire Project for Gettysburg Stage. 

En route, we took a brief but obligatory tour of the Battlefield, i.e. parked at the Eternal Light Peace Memorial, took a picture, and then got back in the car because we were freezing our buns off with the wind. (WTF tourists! Where are your jackets?)

Last night's show was staged in the G.A.R. Building. By the time we found it (there was some block circling) and parked, we had maybe an hour for dinner, which necessitated an eating establishment in close proximity, which turned out to be the Café Saint-Amand (mad props to their website - no flash AND the menu AREN'T in PDF), located at the NE corner of Middle and Baltimore Streets (aka 48 Baltimore Street, a block South of the Square).

Ratatouille!

After perusing the posted menu outside, the deciding factor in opening the door - for me anyway - was the presence of a Monte Cristo sandwich ("Turkey, ham, and Swiss cheese encased between battered bread and garnished with confectioners’ sugar" = divinity). As it turned out, sandwiches were excluded from the dinner menu, which was more of an issue for Emily than for me.

I really wanted to try the ratatouille ("Zucchini, squash, tomatoes, sweet bell peppers, onions, and herbs de Provençal layered with eggplant, served with herbed risotto"), but again, since we only had an hour, we both ended up ordering hors-d'oeuvres. 

Commemorating Emily's first ever crêpe.

We each had a slice of the quiche du jour (it involved Parmesan and mushroom and I can't remember what else) and I had a cup of French onion soup.  Emily had originally ordered Scallop au gratin, but having been informed that the kitchen was out of scallops, she opted instead for Crêpe nutella banane.  And it was all très delicieux! Well, I thought so anyway, but even Emily ate all of her quiche, that is, once she'd scraped off the crème fraiche . 

(Read more reviews of Café Saint-Amand on Yelp.) 

The show itself was incredibly well-done. I wore mascara for the first time of ages and definitely shouldn't have, since by the end of the first act I was well nigh bawling.  Well done, all (But especially Becky and Patrick!)

For more information on Gettysburg Stage's production of the Triangle Factory Fire Project check out the following news articles:

• 'Triangle Factory Fire' remembers tragedy's 100th anniversary -  Frederick News-Post
•  Gettysburg Stage commemorates 1911 industrial incident - Flipside PA

I'd tell you (again) to go see it, but the last show is ending as we speak.

food, glorious [San Franciscan] food, part I

Having just returned from visiting Blake in San Francisco, it seems I should chronicle what I did there. Of course, what I mostly did was eat, something I have no regrets about since something like 9/10 of my pre-trip to-do list was food-related.

This is as close as I've ever gotten to Alcatraz.

As for those things on my food list that I didn't get to, I'm most sad at having missed my chance to experience Schweet Boks Cereal Bar & Cafe; Blake's been talking the place up pretty much since it opened but, alas, it has closed after a mere six months. I can only hope that Dexter will some day find the capital to reincarnate it elsewhere in the city. So what did I eat and how was it? In (somewhat) chronological order:

Fish tacos from The Taco Shop at Underdogs:

I've always resisted going here because it is essentially a bar (a sports bar no less), and Ali doesn't do bars. But I was persuaded, finally because 1.) it was only 5 or so in the afternoon 2.) both our first and second choice for dinner were closed and 3.) having fallen in love with fish tacos at Fiesta Mexico (i.e. the Mexican restaurant in York that isn't El Serrano's or El Rodeo and USED to be Hardee's), I was ready to brave the hipster crowd for a chance at a first-rate taco.

And my pollo taco, "Nick's Way," was brilliant, in both idea and taste. "Nick's way" = one grilled crispy corn tortilla & one soft tortilla filled with Monterey Jack cheese, pinto beans, pico de gallo & guacamole. In other words, the crunch of a hard taco coupled with the structural integrity of a soft taco. Like I said, brilliant!

The fish taco ("Beer battered fish in two soft corn tortillas with cilantro, cabbage & red onions. Lime & roasted tomato salsas") I ordered was, at Blake's recommendation, NOT Nick's way. The fish taco I received WAS Nick's way, and since I didn't press the issue, I can't rightly complain, even though it cost extra. All I can say is that I'm not in a position to comment upon the awesomeness of this particular fish taco because all I could taste was guacamole (although very good guacamole).


Indian Pizza from Golden Gate Indian Cuisine and Pizza:

"Special Spinach Curry sauce, fresh Ginger, fresh Cilantro, fresh Tomatoes, Red Onions & Tandoori Chicken with Mozzarella Cheese."

Blake and I serendipitously stumbled upon this place and its Indian lunch buffet on one of our treks to Ocean Beach. We were intrigued enough by the idea of Indian pizza to order one once and since then... let's just say this place was the ONLY San Francisco restaurant whose number made it into the memory of my phone and was officially #1 on my food to-do list. Indian pizza = even better a day or two later, once the spices have had a chance to absorb into the crust.


Tea Leaf Salad from Burma Superstar:

Were it not for Aung San Suu Kyi, Burma would tie with Laos for "Southeast Asian country whose existence I'm least likely to remember." That is, until I got a taste of the food.

My introduction was another serendipitous event, a visit to the Thai/Burmese lunch buffet at Pagan. The buffet was nearly over and the food was mostly cold, but even so the food was so good (and the hostess so nice) that we were looking forward to the awesomeness of having it freshly prepared.

Wynne @ Sutro Baths

That opportunity arose during Wynne's visit, when her friend suggested Mandalay for dinner (it has the distinction of being the 1st Burmese restaurant in SF), where we had the scrumptiously beautiful 20-ingredient-mixed-at-the-table Rainbow Salad. But THE place for Burmese in San Francisco is Burma Superstar. We've never passed the place without there being a line out the front door. Which is why when we passed it this time (during our EPIC 8 mile Saint Patrick's day walking tour) and there WASN'T a line, we just HAD to stop. So we did, and shared the Tea Leaf Salad and equally awesome Black Bean Chicken Lotus and Asparagus. The Tea Leaf Salad gets top billing only because it's been featured on Food Network. 

  To be continued...

Psshht, Girl Scout Chalet...

Here I was eating my Lemon Chalet Cremes (what a fancy-pants name!) when I took a closer look at the actual cookie. There are Girl Scout Chalets?! Shit, son, I musta been in the wrong troop. Shoulda hooked up wit' these girls:

Cue the Jenny Lewis with Rilo Kiley's "Pictures of Success."

Fasnachts

All hail the fasnacht!

Cupcakes from the Heart

Having heart cupcake papers and pink food dye inspired me to make Valentine cupcakes. I'm not ashamed to say that they're straight out of the box. I used what was on hand (Duncan Hines Butter Recipe Golden), but it probably wouldn't have been my first choice.

What goes better with butter golden cupcakes than buttercream icing? This recipe tastes amazing! It only requires a bit of prep work, such as sifting confectioner's sugar and softening butter.

I added two drops of neon food dye and presto change-o lovely pale pink icing. I'm not the best cupcake icer in the world, but they look tasty!

I even burned my hand on the oven rack in sheer determination to make these cupcakes happen. So, Happy Valentine's Day!

Chocolat

A certain special someone in San Francisco sent me an Artisan Dark Chocolate Sampler of TCHO single-origin chocolates, featuring the art of Max Kisman.  It's altogether so beautifully packaged, I might never get around to eating them...

...Just kidding. 

C Is for Cookie

I think I'm a much better cook than baker, but at least I rarely burn cookies these days, and Christmas calls for cookies! This year, I gave two new cookie recipes a whirl: White Chocolate Candy Cane Drops and Banana Cookies. The former are pretty straightforward, although I had to go to more than one grocery store to find white chocolate. And a mallet does wonders on a plastic baggy full of candy canes. The latter emerged from a need to use really ripe bananas. I added a little more sugar, butter, and cinnamon, and a little less cloves. I also substituted cinnamon chips for nuts because I am firmly against nuts in baked goods. All in all, tasty treats for the family!

And now, my favorite childhood Sesame Street character!