Update: My parents are eating lunch at Bouchon, Thomas Keller's French bistro in Yountville, CA.  Cool.  We can only PRAY they bring a camera.

Thomas Keller likes tête de porc.

*Fun Fact: The ratatouille dish Remy serves in the Pixar film Ratatouille was modeled after one of Thomas Keller's creations. 

ITHACA: Apple Festival

Spanning this glorious September weekend was Ithaca's annual Apple Festival held in the commons, marking the beginning of Fall in the Finger Lakes.  That means copper, gold, and amber leaves, scarves, pumpkins, Thanksgiving and... APPLES!!!  Can't wait to make apple cobbler, apple pie, apple crumble, apple tart tartin, apple turnovers, apple pancakes, mulled apple cider, pork roast with apples, applesauce, apple butter......

Some appleicious NY varieties including Gala, Ginger Gold, Zesta, and Senshu

Fun Fact: There are 674 commercial apple growers in NY State

Beaucoup de Pommes

Mmm...caramel apples!

Apple fritters from Brötchen, a viennese bakery in the Commons

Apple cider donutz (smelled like heaven)

Sweet, sticky red bean paste-filled sesame balls like you get at Dim Sum!

On a non-apple note: Satay @ Lao Village

A booth was making some MEAN looking latkes the size of frisbees (they called them "potato pancakes")

*Patiently awaiting: Ithaca Chili cook-off in February!

Friday Morning Pancake Brunch

It's friday morning, and you wake up, and you begin simmering some blueberries in maple syrup.  Next you're brewing coffee and mixing sour cream, lemon zest, bananas, and vanilla extract together, the subtle aromas slowly bringing you out of your sleepy daze.  Your roomates start to awake, one puts Clair de Lune on the stereo.  The room fills with warm maple syrup, bursting blueberries, sugar, and good company.  If something ever deserved to be a Friday morning ritual, it is this.

Banana Sour Cream Pancakes 

Ingredients

• 1 1/2 cups flour
• 3 tablespoons sugar
• 2 teaspoons baking powder
• 1 1/2 teaspoons kosher salt
• 1/2 cup sour cream
• 3/4 cup plus 1 tablespoon milk
• 2 extra-large eggs
• 1 teaspoon pure vanilla extract
• 1 teaspoon grated lemon zest
• Unsalted butter
• 2 ripe bananas, diced, plus extra for serving
• Pure maple syrup

Directions

Whisk together the flour, sugar, baking powder, and salt. In a separate bowl, whisk together the sour cream, milk, eggs, vanilla, and lemon zest. Add the wet ingredients to the dry ones, mixing only until combined.

Melt 1 tablespoon of butter in a large skillet over medium-low heat until it bubbles. Ladle the pancake batter into the pan to make 3 or 4 pancakes. Distribute a rounded tablespoon of bananas on each pancake. Cook for 2 to 3 minutes, until bubbles appear on top and the underside is nicely browned. Flip the pancakes and then cook for another minute until browned.

BLUEBERRY MAPLE SYRUP = simmer 1/2 pint blueberries with 1 cup maple syrup for 10 minutes.  Serve warm.

ITHACA: Five Guys Burgers & Fries

Five Guys opened today in Ithaca @ 222 Elmira Road, next to Northside Wine & Spirits.  I ordered a "little" cheeseburger with ketchup, mayo, pickles, and onions.  The air in this place is thick with grease, the burgers are gooey, the buns are soft and billowy like air, and I will be back for another... probably next Sunday.

The East Coast's answer to In-N-Out?

Free peanutz

A Transcendental Evening (A taste of Tuscany)

I am sitting in my kitchen in Ithaca, NY, yet I am somehow transported to a grandma's Rustic kitchen somewhere amidst the countryside outside of Florence. In front of me sits a sizeable block of Parmigiano Reggiano cheese- get this- from Parma. A bowl of spaghetti carbonara fills the kitchen with the aroma of smoky bacon, nutty parmigiano, and fresh cooked De Cecco spaghetti. Completing the plateau of divinity that is our kitchen table are five bottles of Italian wine straight from the vineyards of Valpolicella, Tuscany, and Trentino. No, I am not in Ithaca anymore, nor am I in Italy, I am simply...

IN HEAVEN.

The secret to spaghetti carbonara...red wine in the pasta water!

Imparting a red wine flavor to the Barilla thick spaghetti

6 whole eggs beat with grated parmigiano and a generous grinding of black pepper

The finished dish: a bowl of perfectly al dente spaghetti coated with creamy egg, melted cheese, and unctuous bacon

2001 Corte Giara Amarone della Valpolicella, made from Corvina grapes

Think full bodied red, think raisins and mediterranean fruits...mmmmm

Wine Tasting: Bordeaux

This week, Wendy Narby, teacher at L'Ecole du Vin in Bordeaux came to talk about the region's fabulous wines.

Wines tasted [from left to right, as shown in the glasses above]:

• Chateau La Rame, Bordeaux Blanc, 2007 (sauvignon/semillon blend) $12.99
• Chateau Le Bonnat Rouge, Graves, 2005* (Merlot) $14
• Chateau Sainte-Marie, Bordeaux Supérieur, 2007 (Merlot/Cabernet Sauv blend) $13
• Grand-Puy Ducasse, Pauillac, 2002 (Merlot/Cabernet Sauv blend) ($49.99)** 
• Castelnau de Suduiraut, Sauternes, 2003 (semillon/sauvignon blend) $20 for a half bottle

*2005: A great vintage for Bordeaux

**Wendy Narby's comment: "It's twice the price of the other wines, but it's twice the wine, isn't it?"...Yes, yes it was.  Sooo delicious.

ITHACA: BREW FEST '09!!!

Ithaca hosted its 3rd annual Brew Fest this past Saturday at Stewart Park, on scenic Cayuga Lake.  All the heavy hitters were there from both the East and West Coasts.  Were talking: Empire, Brooklyn, Roosterfish, Ommegang, Southern Tier (all from NY State), as well as Magic Hat (from VT), Lagunitas (from CA), Stone (from CA), Redhook Ale (from WA), and Harpoon (from MA), among many, many others. It was a plethora of brews, from ales to stouts to I.P.A.'s, and I enjoyed them all.

My Favorite: Ithaca Beer Co.'s White Gold Belgo-American Pale Wheat Ale style beer (found in the VIP tent only...thanks Suz for your passes!)

Silver and bronze metal went to: Rare Vos (Amber Ale) and Abbey Ale (Belgian Trappist Ale) from Brewery Ommegang in nearby Cooperstown, NY

Stone representing the Best- I mean West- Coast with the "massive hop monster" that is their Ruination I.P.A.

Southern Tier Brewing Co was pouring their English style bitter Harvest Ale

Brooklyn Brewery was pouring their signature Lager, as well as a super tasty Oktoberfest beer.

This guy came prepared with a pretzel necklace.  Better than diamonds.

This guy is THE MAN.  Seriously, he had a booth where he was thin slicing potatoes using a drill gun attached to an apple peeler.  He then deep fried the thin potato slices and dowsed them in nacho cheese [See below]

You're right, a marigold-like mass of deep fried homemade potato chips slathered in nacho cheese sauce does not taste good with a cold glass of beer.  Obviously.

Enjoying our last beer while watching the sunset on Cayuga Lake.

...It was brewtastic.

MAGIC HAT #9 (It's not quite pale-ale)

I first encountered Magic Hat #9 three years ago when I ventured to the Northeast to attend college, and it's since become one of my favorite brews.

From Magic Hat Brewing Company in Burlington, VT.  As described, its "almost a Pale-ale," but fruity with hints of peach and apricot.  Made with English Ale yeast and Cascade and Columbus hops.

Could its name be alluding to The Beatles' song Revolution #9?...because this is one revolutionary ale.